"AccordingtotheBook"

2012-01-11T20:28:00.003-05:00

“AS OFTEN AS”
By Stan Butler

In all my past posts, I have always maintained that the scriptural example for frequency to observe the Lord’s Supper is once a week and on the first day of the week. Recently a follower left a comment after reading one of my postings and in the comment section stated, “We are also told to eat the bread and drink the wine AS OFTEN AS WE MEET.”

Maybe I shouldn’t assume “as often as” I do (no pun intended), but without an email address to clear this up, and because of the capital letters, I assumed that the commenter was attempting to let me know that Communion could be taken AS OFTEN AS WE MEET. I could go along with the thought behind that statement if one were to only go to church once a week and only on Sunday. But what of the Christian that attends church services on Sunday morning and evening and then again on Wednesday evening? And I don’t mean to nitpick, but the statement left by the commenter is not to be found in the Scriptures. I’ll start my commentary with what is written:

1 Corinthians 11:26; “for as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.”

I would like to take a close look at the word “often” used here in this verse. The Greek word for “often” used here is Hosakis. It is a relative adverb. It is referring to the manner in which they were partaking, not the frequency. This is clearly evident if you back up a few verses, you’ll see that Paul is reprimanding the church at Corinth for abusing the Lord’s Supper.

There is however an interrogative numerical adverb in the Greek which would have referred to frequency and it is (Posakis) and is interrupted to mean, “how many times” or “how often”. Paul did not use this word. Thus, we are not at liberty to offer the Lord’s Supper to the church at will. There is a frequency set forth in the Scriptures that we should adhere to and not deviate from.

Look at the word “often” as used in 1Corinthians 11:26 like this: You have a prescription filled and it says to take this medicine with water or food as often as you take it or when you take it. You then have to go to the directions to see how often the doctor wants you to take the pills. I believe the same applies to this verse, go to the directions given by the Holy Spirit on how often to “eat this bread and drink this cup.”

At the institution of Communion by our Lord, nothing is said of the frequency with which it was to be observed. Had nothing more been said or written, every congregation of believers would have been left to its own judgment as to the frequency of its observance. Most Christians claim to be silent where the Bible is silent and speak where it speaks. The Holy Spirit is not silent on this matter of when or how often. He did guide the apostles, and what they canonized in Scripture is our example to follow. That example is the first day of the week and nothing is said of any other day, only on “the first day of the week.” (Acts20:7)

Many churches claim that where the Scriptures are silent, there is liberty. Yet, in the matter of the observance of the Lord’s Supper, even though the Scriptures are not silent, they take liberties anyway. They seem to turn a deaf ear to the Scriptures when they include Communion in special services on days of the week other than Sunday such as Christmas Eve, Good Friday, etc.

Communion is Covenant keeping and Covenant renewal. Matthew 26:28; “This is my blood of the New Testament.” The Holy Spirit set it up as a seven-day covenant renewal. Almost all churches that I know of are not in the practice of baptizing more often than the example set forth in the Scriptures, so why would they want to blatantly observe the Lord’s Supper more often than the example we have to follow?

I wish to personally thank the reader who left the comment. You caused me to get into God’s Word once more to study further and dig deeper.

Footnote: I will be taking a lengthy hiatus from blogging starting immediately in order to give my wife the attention and support that she will need in the coming months. She underwent surgery on 12-12-11 for a left frontal brain mass. This mass turned out to be a cancer called Glioblastoma. We would appreciate all the prayers you can offer on her behalf.

My thanks to Michael, a brother in Christ, who is my corrective grammarian.

2011-12-02T10:53:00.008-05:00

SIX THINGS GOD CANNOT DO

by Stan Butler

God is sovereign. We say and believe that God is sovereign and although the word “sovereign” is not found in the Scriptures we use that word to mean that He is the Supreme Ruler, He’s all knowing, He’s all powerful, simply that He IS. We say as our sovereign God…He can do anything He wants to. He even says in Matthew 19:26; “with God, all things are possible.” Yet as we read the scriptures we see that this statement seems to contradict itself, because we know that there are many things God just cannot do. How can this be, because in 2Timothy 2:13 it says; “that God cannot deny Himself.” Well, that word “deny” in the Greek means “to contradict.” So how can this be that in one scripture we see that God can do anything, then flip a few pages and read where He cannot do this or that.

Let me give you an example of a scripture that seemed to me at first to be contradictory:

In Proverbs 17:15, we read, “He that justifieth the wicked is an abomination to the Lord.” God does not like to see a wicked person go unpunished. Yet God is a justifier of the wicked, and in order not to contradict himself, God simply saw to it that the penalty for sin was paid. In order for God to demonstrate love and justice, the penalty for all sin had to be satisfied, and the only way for that to happen was for God to offer and indeed let His only Son die for all the sins of mankind.

Can you imagine how God feels about our court system that we have in place today? A rapist, a murderer, a thief goes unpunished because someone forgot to read him his rights! The case is thrown out of court and the criminal goes free… the criminal can say, “it’s just as if I’d never committed the crime.” Oh how Almighty God must hate that.

Let’s look at some other things which God cannot do according to His word:

God cannot deny Himself: 2Timothy 2:13; This has just been explained. God’s word is never contradictory.

God cannot wash away sin without blood: Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”
Aren’t you thankful for the waters of baptism? Acts 22:16b; “arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins.”
Aren’t you thankful for the cup you drink from every Sunday? Matthew 26:28; Jesus holding the cup said these words: “This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

God cannot sin: James 1:13; “God cannot be tempted with evil.”

God cannot change: Malachi 3:6; “I am the Lord, I change not.”

God cannot save man without man’s consent: We see this illustrated in Matthew 23:37: Jesus says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.”

God cannot lie: Heb 6:18; “it is impossible for God to lie.”
Titus 1:2; “which God, who cannot lie.”
How wonderful it is to know that when we read something in His Word, we can absolutely rely on it to be the truth, and always to know that when God says something…it is settled and we can believe it.

Be assured, the things which God says He cannot do are only because of the limitations He has placed on Himself.

Some of the content for this post I got from a sermon preached by Bro. Larry Jamison, evangelist at Oakland Christian Church, Oakland, Kentucky. Larry got the content of his sermon from the Scriptures. I guess that would make God the original author. Enjoy.

My thanks to Michael, a brother in Covenant, who is my corrective grammarian.

2011-11-02T15:41:00.003-04:00

Rapture ???
By Stan Butler

A lot of money has been made and is being made with the scare tactics involved with something called the “rapture”. Let’s look at how this “rapture thing” got started, and then spread, and then what the word of God has to say about Christ’s return.

The doctrine of a secret rapture was first conceived by John Darby of the Plymouth Brethren in 1827. Darby, given credit for being known as the “father of dispensationalism, is the inventor of the doctrine known as “the rapture”, claiming that there are two second comings of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In 1830 in Scotland, a 15 yr old girl named Margaret McDonald had a vision that Jesus would return to earth twice. She saw Jesus taking true believers to heaven and then returning again for the last judgment. During a Darby visit to her hometown of Port Glasgow, she shared her vision with John Darby. He then incorporated Margaret’s vision and his own thoughts into a precise end time plot based on passages found throughout the Bible. The centerpiece of his prophetic system—Jesus would rescue believers before the horrors of the book of Revelation. This doctrine was then spread by Darby throughout Great Britain and America and called “the rapture”.

In the early 20th century, Darby’s ideas were taken up by a man named C.I.Scoffield. C.I.Scoffield annotated a Bible based partly on Darby’s end time prophecies. (Annotate—add explanatory notes to a book, document, etc.) He put his notes on the same page as the biblical text and often times readers couldn’t remember if they had read about the rapture in the book of the Bible itself or on the bottom of the page. This Scoffield Bible has sold over 11,000,000 copies worldwide and is still in print in seven different languages.

We’re told in Acts 2:9-11…"And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” No secret coming or snatching away here. He’ll return just as He left, with witnesses

Jesus said in Matthew 26:64… that we would see Him coming in clouds of glory. No secret coming or snatching away here. All eyes shall behold Him.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17..."For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." No secret coming or snatching away here either. It’ll be a loud announcement from the start, and then we’ll see the graves opened up and those that are “in Christ” will be caught up with the dead in Christ. Does this describe a secret snatching away (rapture)?

And in Revelation 1:7…"Behold He cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him."

There will be no secret snatching away of just the faithful. (All eyes shall be a witness)
There will be no second chance for the lost to be saved. (Better talk to your loved ones now)
There will be no rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem with animal sacrifices. Our Jewish friends need to accept and believe that Jesus is their promised Messiah.

Absolutely nothing on earth is preventing or will prevent the second and final coming of our King. All that has to happen is for the Father to look to the right hand side of His throne and speak the words, “Go get ‘em Son.” No future events must take place first. Now is the day of salvation. Don’t be deceived into thinking you have time on your side and many things must happen before Christ can return. Don’t think you can wait till there is a temple being rebuilt in Jerusalem. Don’t think you can wait till some guy with a scar on his face comes into power. Act, and do it now.

Hear the gospel, believe that Jesus is the only Christ and the very Son of God, confess this before men now and till you die, repent of your sins, be baptized for the remission of those sins, and be faithful till death to the Lord and His Table. Put your energy into soul winning instead of arguments about an imaginary “rapture.”

My thanks to Michael, a brother in Christ, who is my corrective grammarian.

2011-10-18T16:06:00.003-04:00

BE CAREFUL HOW YOU DRAW

by Stan Butler

The terms “draw near” and “draw back” are two New Testament terms that we hear little about today. It seems that standing in a pulpit and telling folks that they are not drawing near or that they appear to be drawing back is not a popular thing to do. Do this in some congregations and you could well lose your job. I’m not on the paid staff of any church, so I’d like to speak out a little about drawing near and drawing back.

The 10th chapter of Hebrews is a chapter with a plea for the Christian to remain steadfast in the faith, to draw near. Paul has prepared the Christian a salad in which he uses a lot of “let us”. In verse 22 he says, “Let us draw near with a true heart,” in verse 23, “let us hold fast the profession of our faith,” and in verse 24, “let us consider one another.” This salad is a part of the Christian’s diet. Digest this “let us” every week and you’ll draw near, you’ll not draw back.

Let’s look at the term “draw near”. It means to approach or to come near. There is no time of any given week that you can draw nearer to our great and wonderful God as in the time of Communion on the first day of the week. That’s why we are told in Hebrews 10:25, to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.” The main reason the charter members of the church assembled themselves together we’re told in Acts 20:7, was to break bread, to have Communion, to participate in the Lord’s Supper.

Here comes the part that could get a preacher fired.

In the next verse, Hebrews 10:26, it tells us that it is a sin to willfully forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Church attendance is mandatory every week, not just when we feel we should honor God with our presence. How sanctimonious can we get? We stand in awe of His presence, not He of ours. It’s at His table that we partake of our sacrifice for sin, and if we “draw back,” meaning to shun, to withdraw, or to shrink away from His table, verse 26 says, “there remains no more sacrifice for sin.” Verse 27 & 28 let us know that we can look forward to a certain and fearful judgment, and are worthy of death.

Preachers are not afraid to say that we shouldn’t miss church, they aren’t afraid to say that we should attend as much as possible, but there are few and far between that will say, “The word of God says that it’s a sin to willfully miss church and not assemble around His table.” It’s not being around His table that according to verse 29&30, we #1) trod under foot the Son of God (His body) #2) count the blood of the covenant which sanctified us an unholy thing (His blood) and #3) insult the Holy Spirit (who prompts us to be faithful to this covenant renewal.)

In Psalms 73:2 we read, “But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.” The psalmist had been watching the wicked, how they prospered, how they had health and wealth, things seemed to go well at every turn for the wicked and they didn’t acknowledge God. He was about to “draw back” when he says in verse 17, “I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.”

As we look around us today, we see the same thing, prosperous friends and neighbors who treat the Lord’s Day as any other, without even a thought of God and his assembly. It may not seem right to us either but we must remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:45 that, “For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” It’s when we assemble in the house of the Lord and around His table that we, just as the psalmist, can see the end of those who willfully neglect “drawing near”. Paul in Hebrews 10:38, says, “But if any man draw back,( meaning “to shun”), my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

Look closely to what verse 39 has to say. “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” It’s possible to shun or draw back to the point of apostasy (perdition). Miss the Lord’s Supper often enough and you’ll no longer miss it at all, because you’ll no longer think of it at all.

Jesus in Matthew 26:26-28, holding the bread said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And holding the cup said, “Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” And in Luke 22:19, He says, “do this in remembrance of me.”

So as Christians, “let us” eat the salad that Paul offers as we draw near with a true heart, hold fast the profession of our faith, and consider one another by being around His prepared table. Then “let us” partake at His table and commune with Jesus as we eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Jesus did say in John 6:55; “My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” In doing this we’ll “draw near” and not “draw back”, and show His death till He comes, and He has told us, “Surely I come quickly.”

Be careful how you draw.

My thanks to Michael, a brother in Christ, who is my corrective grammarian.

2011-09-11T17:08:00.011-04:00

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT
by Stan Butler

Maybe you’ve noticed by looking around that you see people of all different sizes and shapes. Some people wear larger clothes and different colors to try to hide or disguise the way they look in the eyes of those around them. Some eat all they want of anything they want and never seem to change in appearance, while others make an honest effort to eat a food regimen that should cause them to lose weight, but to no avail. So the next time you see a large person and start having thoughts of judgment about them, remember, you can’t always judge a book by its cover.

The food that we eat to stay alive in the physical sense is not what I would like to address at this time though. It’s the spiritual health of a Christian that’s more important than his or her physical being. Unless the Lord returns, we're all going to die and the physical shape that we maintained while on this earth won’t matter one iota. God says in 1Samuel 16: 7; “for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” It’s the maintenance of our heart, our spiritual welfare that we must be concerned about. It’s been said, “You are what you eat.” That adage could very well hold true in the spiritual realm.

First off, we feed ourselves spiritually by feasting on the word of God, the Bible. In 2Timothy 2:15; we read that “we’re to study to show ourselves approved.”

If you want God’s approval… study His word. Just make sure that you’re a doer and not just a hearer…you’ll have His approval.

If you want a really good spiritual diet, read the words of Jesus written in red. Rest assured that these words are no fad diet that won’t satisfy. When you close the book, you’ll feel full, but you’ll hunger for more, because it’s the kind of diet that makes you look and feel better the more you digest. Jesus says in John 6:63, “that His words are spirit and that they are life.” There you go; spiritual food to keep the spiritual man alive.

If you want to look good as a Christian, study and do what the Bible says. You’ll look like a spiritual body builder, you’ll be strong, you’ll have endurance, and you’ll attract people to you. People will want to know what you’ve been eating.

Speaking of eating, at the Lord’s Table we eat the only physical food known to man that can and does nourish us spiritually. Let’s stick to those “words in red” that we mentioned earlier and see how. In Matthew 26:26-28; Jesus holding the bread says, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And while holding the cup says, “Drink ye all of it. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Talk about nourishment, how’s having your sins remitted make you feel and look spiritually? How’s obeying his command to “do this” make you feel and look spiritually? How’s the confessing and repenting as you examine yourself make you feel and look spiritually?

In John 6:55, Jesus says that, “my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” We know that this real food and real drink nourishes us spiritually because Jesus also said in verse 54, that “except you eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.” It takes food to stay alive and this real food of His flesh and real drink of His blood keeps us alive spiritually. Let’s remember that feasting on His word and dining at His table go hand in hand. We need to read the Book that goes along with the Diet. Lest we forget…We are what we eat.

My thanks to Michael, a brother in Christ, who is my corrective grammarian.

2011-09-04T07:29:00.008-04:00

THREE BOOKS GOD CARES ABOUT
By Stan Butler

There are three books God cares about that we have in our possession during our assembled worship times.

1) His book… the Bible:
God wrote it…it’s His book…He wants us to use it. He wants your preacher to preach from it. He wants the giver of the Communion meditation to get his words from it. In small groups where two or three are gathered together, He wants His book studied…not books written by Rick Warren, Charles Stanley, Billy Graham, Alexander Campbell, Michael Haas or any other uninspired man.

2) The song book: Songs fall into two categories:

Covenant songs: like, “Thou art worthy”. The song goes like this: “Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy, thou art worthy oh Lord___ to receive glory, glory and honour, glory and honour and power. For thou hast created, hast all things created. thou hast created all things---and for thy pleasure they are created, for thou art worthy oh Lord.”
Now read Revelation 4:11: Thou art worthy, Oh Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Now that’s a covenant song written and sung in covenant language.

Existential songs: existentialism says, “I exist! God exists! I have had an experience with God, and that is my authority!”
One thing that the Christian needs to understand is that the words we sing need to be TRUTH if indeed our singing is part of worship. John 4:24 says; “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” The problem with existential songs is that they may contain untruths. Here are just a few examples.

Example #1: “To God be the Glory”, in verse #2 it says: O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood! To every believer the promise of God, the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. This is in direct opposition to what God’s word has to say about the vilest offender being saved. That book I mentioned earlier…God’s book…the Bible says it takes more that just belief. It also requires repentance, confession and baptism. Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16; John 3:5; Matthew 28:19; Titus 3:5; Colossians 2:12-13; Acts 22:16; Acts 16:30-34; Romans 10:9-10…that should be sufficient.

Example #2: “Victory in Jesus”, in verse #1 it says: I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood’s atoning, then I repented of my sins and won the victory. Again, repentance is not the only requirement to “win the victory.” Same verses above apply here. It takes more than repentance

Example #3: C Austin Miles: in “I come to the garden alone.” In the refrain we find these words: And the joy we (Jesus & C Austin Miles) share as we tarry there, none other has ever known. That’s quite an assumption on Mr. Miles’ part. He’s had this experience with Jesus and experienced more joy than any one else has ever known. In John 15:7, Jesus says, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

So songs are either about your personal experience fabrication i.e. existential, or they are from the Scriptures and thus in Covenant language and thus complete truth.

3) Your pocketbook: Yep…you read it right the first time.

Psalms 24:1; the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

Do we believe that? Do we really believe that? Then if that be true…
Do I own the car I drive? NO. I have people comment often…“that’s a nice ride you have there. I always reply back, “Yeah it is, but it doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to God and He lets me drive it.”

How about our pocketbooks? Do we own them? NO This being true…the money that’s in our wallets doesn’t belong to us either now does it?

So when we reach in and thumb through His currency at offering time…we shouldn’t ask ourselves, “How much of the money I’ve earned this week am I going to give to God?” We should ask ourselves rather, “How much of God’s money am I going to withhold from Him and keep for myself?”

There’s an adage about giving that goes like this: “Give till it hurts.” My personal opinion is that I don’t really think that Almighty God wants us to “give till it hurts.” So here’s an adage and an antidote to “give till it hurts”… “Give till it feels good.”

I would encourage you to think and be aware of what you are reading or listening to during worship. Be aware of what words are coming out of your mouth during the song service. And last but not least, be aware of where your heart is in your giving to the Lord and in worship.

My thanks to Michael, a brother in Christ, who is my corrective grammarian.

2011-08-17T10:29:00.024-04:00

Why didn’t Jesus just say what He meant?

by Stan Butler

It appears that many of the readers of this blog are being self-lead into thinking I am leaning towards accepting the Catholic view of transubstantiation. Others believe I may be about to accept the Lutheran view of consubstantiation. And lastly there is the opinion of some in the church of Christ (to which I have been added) that I have deviated from “their” teaching that the Lord’s Supper is a mere memorial and a commemoration. I want to address all three of these misconception situations so that there will remain no doubt in the readers mind that I hold none of these figments as true.

I have never believed in either the transubstantiation or consubstantiation view of the Lord’s Supper. There was, however, a time early in my Christian walk when my gullibility allowed me to swallow the “commemoration” or “memorial” view that is being preached from the pulpits of most Christian/Church of Christ churches.

I believe every word that the Lord Jesus Christ ever uttered that is recorded in God’s Word. I also exhibit extreme caution not to add to or take away from His statements. Jesus is a very smart individual and is able to speak very clearly. It’s not recorded anywhere in scripture that He spoke with a lisp or any type of speech impediment. When He said something, He spoke clearly and I believe He meant what He said. He does not need my assistance or anyone else’s to explain what He said to make it easier to understand or to fit any theological or doctrinal belief.

A personal friend and follower of this blog, Larry Jamison, evangelist at Oakland Christian Church, in Oakland Kentucky put in the comment section of one of my posts these words which I whole heartedly agree with. He wrote: “If Jesus can wash us in His blood in the waters of baptism, I have no problems with believing He can wash us in His blood in the bread and the cup of the fruit of the vine! I also just believe what Jesus said, and find that much more pleasing and simple than trying to apply metaphysics to it. If He did not mean what He said, then why didn't He just say what He means? I think He did. Let God be true and every man a liar! After all, if He did not mean what He said, THEN WHO KNOWS WHAT HE MEANT? Throw the Bible away and do and believe whatever you want to! Satan did, and look what it did to him। It cost him heaven!! And if you do that too, it will cost you the same! Jesus is Lord; we must obey and love Him!”

Read the following Scriptures in which Jesus is speaking. Then ask yourself, “Did Jesus really mean this?” If the answer is yes and you feel no need to add to His words, then you and I have the same belief about Communion. If you feel the need to try and explain what you think He meant to say, we are not sitting in the same pew.

Matthew 26:26-28; and as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, “Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

John 6:51; “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

John 6:53-56; Then Jesus said unto them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.”

Now answer this question: John 6:61; “Doth this offend you?” If your answer is yes, perhaps you are no longer walking with Jesus. (John 6:66)

I simply believe in the Lord’s Supper the way He spoke of it. Nothing added…nothing taken away.

My thanks to Michael, a “brother in Covenant”, who is my corrective grammarian.

2011-07-21T12:33:00.001-04:00

Doth this offend you?
By Stan Butler

In John 6:48-64, Jesus is telling the Jews and His followers that He is the bread of life, He is the living bread, and that the living bread is His flesh, and to live forever they must eat of it. When Jesus used the word “eat” in verses 49-53, He used the Greek word “phago”, meaning to simply eat, or consume. Those who heard argued among themselves about how a person could eat His flesh, and thought He was espousing cannibalism. He saw their disbelief, so in verses 54-58, He changed His word for “eat” from “phago” to “trogo”, which means to gnaw, to chew on, and gives the idea of a crunching sound. The more persistent their disbelief, the more difficult His language became.

As they continued to murmur, in verse 61, Jesus asked, “Doth this offend you?” He wanted to set them at ease over this matter of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, so in verses 63&64, He explained, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit (pneuma, a current of air) (from the root word in the Greek pneo, meaning to breathe hard), and they are life (zoe).” Then Jesus goes on to say, “But there are some of you that believe not.”

The restoration movement has entire congregations who “believe not” and have the same problems with what Jesus has to say about His body and His blood as did the Jews and His followers in times back then. One such congregation in a neighboring state has this to say about the Lord’s Supper and they put it in print for all to see in their bulletin: “We believe in a weekly observance of the communion of the Lord’s Supper as central in worship. The Lord’s Supper does not invoke blessings upon its participants. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial.”

My question to this congregation is, “If you feel there are no blessings involved and if you reduce Communion to a mere memorial, why make it the centerpiece of your worship service?”

From this statement, we can assume that this congregation thinks more of what man has to say, than what Jesus has to say. Let’s listen to the words of Jesus on this matter: Matthew 26:26b &28, “Take, eat; this is my body”. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” If we believe what He said here then we should look again at John 6 and quote our Savior and see what blessings can be invoked at His table, which as far as I know is the only place Christians participate in the Lord’s body and blood. In John 6:53-58, Jesus says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you”. That sounds like a blessing being invoked to me, if you don’t eat and drink, you have no life, but if you eat and drink and you have life. Let’s go on, “Whoever eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, hath eternal life.” That sounds like another blessing being invoked to me, the blessing of eternal life for eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Let’s see, we were baptized into Christ, (Romans 6:3) (Galatians 3:27) and we know that’s not a “once saved always saved proposition.” So Jesus tells us in John 6:56; that, “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood, remains in me and I in him.”

I want to remain spiritually alive. I want eternal life. I want to remain in Him. I want Him to remain in me. I also want the remission of my sins. And that’s why I am not offended by the thought of eating my Savior’s precious body and drinking His precious blood, when the fruit of the vine and the unleavened bread are passed to me during Communion. Please answer Jesus as He asks, “Doth this offend you?”

Why do Christians believe what Jesus said in John 3:16, but feel the need to change what He says in chapter 6? The answer has to lie in the fact that they would reply to Jesus, “Yes, this doth offend me.”

I wish to express my gratitude to Michael, a “brother in Covenant”, who is my corrective grammarian.

2011-06-25T07:32:00.008-04:00

WALKING AS JESUS WALKED
by Stan Butler

The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. (1John 2:6)

As a Christian, have you ever had someone say to you, “Sure, I know you talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?” Relating this question to the challenge made in 1John 2:6, I’d like to correlate one way in which we actually can walk in the same manner as Jesus walked. Even though we can’t live a sinless life as He did, raise the dead as He did, or even love as limitlessly as He did, there is an area of obedience that we can have perfection in: That of obedience in “Covenant keeping.”

In the time and age of the Old Covenant, the Israelites (Jews) were God’s covenanted people. To remain in that covenanted relationship, one thing mandated was that they were to “keep the Passover.” The story can be found in Exodus 12, how God initiated the Passover Feast the evening before He delivered the Israelites out of four hundred and thirty years of bondage to the Egyptians. It tells of how they were to sacrifice a lamb and smear its blood over the top and side door posts. They were given exact instructions as to how to prepare and eat that lamb and await their deliverance. Death was to visit Egypt that night in that God was to pass over the land and kill the firstborn of every household, Egyptian or Israelite. But, if they had followed His instructions, if He saw the blood over the door posts, He would “pass over” that house and they would be safe: Thus the Passover and its meaning.

God knew that His deliverance of the Israelites and the events that took place during that deliverance were such a big deal and wanted them to always acknowledge it and never forget, so He spoke to Moses later in the wilderness and told him to tell the people that they were to “keep the Passover” every year and even made a memorial of it. Please notice, God, not man, made the Passover a memorial (Exodus 12:14) “Now this day shall be a memorial to you”… That day would be the fourteenth day of the first month of every year.

As usually happens though, when Almighty God gives a mandate, there are those who want concessions or ways to be excused from keeping it. The Passover was no exception. There were some who asked, “What if we’re unclean because of touching a dead person, or “What if we’re off on a long trip?” What if…what if…what if. So, God spoke to Moses again and said; "Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'If any one of you or of your generations becomes unclean because of a dead person, or is on a distant journey, he may, however, observe the Passover to the LORD. In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight, they shall observe it.” (Numbers 9:10-11)
BUT
“The man who is clean and is not on a journey, and yet neglects to observe the Passover, that person shall then be cut off from his people, for he did not present the offering of the LORD at its appointed time, that man will bear his sin.” (Numbers 9:13)

So, if they willfully neglected to keep the Passover feast, they were no longer considered to be a part of God’s covenanted people and if they died before the next Passover, they would die in their sins. Pretty strong stuff, wouldn’t you say?

We can know through studying the Scriptures that Jesus never missed a Passover. How you may ask? We know that His parents kept the Passover every year and took Jesus along with them. (Luke 2:41-42) So we know that He remained in a covenanted relationship with His Father through keeping the Passover. Jesus walked the walk, and we can do the same.

In this present time and age of the New Covenant, God’s covenanted people are called Christians. (Acts 11:26)(Acts 26:28)(1Peter 4:16) This name was given to us by God Himself. (Isaiah 62: 2); “And you will be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord will designate.” We as Christians, are no longer required to sacrifice animals or keep the Jewish Passover because when Jesus, our New Covenant (Isaiah 42:6 & 49:8) died on the cross and the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51) (Mark 15:38) (to show that God done the tearing) the Old Covenant with all it’s laws, ceremonies, and sacrifices ended and the New Covenant was in force.

The Israelites entered into their Covenant by natural childbirth, where the Christian is reborn into his. (John 3:5) Since Jesus Christ is our New Covenant, a believer must be “in Christ” to be in Covenant with our great God. The Scriptures show that we can get “into Christ” through baptism. (Romans 6:3) Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into His death? (Galatians 3:27) For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Believing that Jesus is the very Son of God (Acts 8:37) (Romans 10:9-10), confessing it with your mouth (Romans 10:9-10), repenting of your sins (Acts 2:38) (Luke 13:3), and being baptized into Him, (Acts 2:38) (John 3:5) is how a non-Christian (believer) becomes a Christian and enters into a covenanted relationship with God.

Once in Covenant, the Christian must remain “in Christ.”

That’s where Jesus has made it simpler to remain in and keep our New Covenant: Two not ten commandments to follow; “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37&39) and we must live God’s way: “You shall be Holy, for I am Holy.” (1Peter 1:16) Now like it or not, that just about sums up what God expects out of us. And as much as I love Jesus, as close as I try to live a Godly and holy life, I FALL SHORT. I sin. And so do you…YES YOU DO. We all do.

But Jesus, knowing that we would sin and fall short also gave us these words of comfort: “This do.” (Luke 22:19) He was referring to the Lord’s Supper…Communion. He knew that without blood…there is no remission of sin, (Hebrews 9:22) and there had to be a way to reach that blood, His blood. He has made that possible through baptism (Romans 6:3) and Communion. (Matthew 26:28)

It’s recorded in John 6 that earlier in His ministry, Jesus had told His disciples that to remain (continuing action) “in Him”, they must eat His flesh (continuing action) and drink His blood. (also a continuing action) That those who did would have eternal life and those that did not would have no life in them. (John 6:53-56) He was showing them how they could do this and remain “in Covenant” or “in Him”. “This do” and keep Covenant. “This do not” and break Covenant.

The Scriptures teach that Communion is to be the main focus of the worship service on the first day of the week. “and upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread.” (Acts 20:7) Members of the early church were steadfast in the breaking of bread. (Acts2:42) The Holy Spirit led the apostles and early church to assemble on every first day of the week and renew Covenant by participating in the body and blood of their Covenant, Jesus Christ. It was therefore a weekly renewal. Remember, it’s a continual eating and drinking that allows us to “remain in Him.”

Memorials are made so that we can remember and never forget a particular person or event. The Israelites were soon forgetting that God had delivered them from slavery with signs and wonders, and He knew that soon they would also forget when and who had performed this miraculous deliverance. So God in His wisdom made the Passover a memorial. Such is not the case with the Lord’s Supper. It is not a memorial as most Christians call it. God knew that those who are “in Christ”, those who were bought with His blood and wear His name could never forget Him. That’s why Jesus said, “do this in remembrance of me,” and not “do this to remember me.” Nowhere in Scripture does it say that Jesus made Communion a memorial as God did with the Passover.

The Passover was only a shadow of the Lord’s Supper in that when God saw the blood of their sacrifice on the doorposts he would save them from certain death. In the Lord’s Supper, as we confess and repent of our sins, drinking from the cup which Jesus said is His blood and for the remission of our sins, God sees the blood that is the sacrifice for our sins, and He honors the death and blood of His only begotten and saves us from a certain death as well, through forgiveness. It is written that, “the wages of sin is death.”(Romans 6:23) but Jesus paid those wages. The last words that Jesus uttered while on the cross, “it is finished” in essence means, “paid in full.”

So, if an Israelite willfully neglected the Passover, a mere memorial, and was no longer considered an Israelite and “bore his own sin” till the next opportunity to observe the Passover again, an entire year later. Knowing this, I would not want to willfully neglect the Lord’s Table, break Covenant with God and take the chance I might not make it to the next Lord’s Day to sit at His Table anew.

I rely entirely on God’s grace week to week till I can contact the blood “that cleanseth us from all sin.” (1John1:7-9) but I do so while in Covenant with Him. God’s grace is one of the riches which He grants “in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:7), and it’s not to be cheapened by being taken for granted. God will not be mocked.

Just as Jesus was faithful in keeping the Passover, a memorial and a shadow of the Lord’s Supper, we must and can be faithful also in Covenant keeping and Covenant renewal thru Communion.

The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. (1John 2:6)
I wish to express my gratitude to Michael, a “brother in Covenant”, who is my corrective grammarian.

Nobody left Behind

2011-06-19T12:55:00.000-04:00

Nobody Left Behind; Insight into "End-Time" Prophecies separates fact from fiction by looking at Bible prophecies in context. David Vaughn Elliott respectfully examines the prophetic viewpoint underlying the "Left Behind" series, clearly showing that many prophecies proclaimed as end-time prophecies have actually already been wonderfully fulfilled in history.

Here are some of the vital topics you will learn about in this thought-provoking book.

Is the Antichrist alive?

•What is the meaning of 666? Read or download
•When does the Millennium begin?
•Should prophecy be interpreted literally?
•When did God stop His prophetic clock?
•How many "great tribulations" are there?
•What does the Bible predict about Rome?
•Who will be left behind when Jesus returns?
•Does God plan another temple in Jerusalem?
•Has Daniel's 70-weeks prophecy been fulfilled?
•Is the "Left Behind" scenario found in the Bible?

The 334 pages of Nobody Left Behind will help you explore major Bible prophecies in depth in language you can understand. Expect your views to be tested. Extensive Scripture and subject indexes will help you quickly find the verses and topics that interest you most. Fifteen pages of illustrations are included as well as quotations from ancient Jewish and Christian writers. Nobody Left Behind offers you a biblical, historical, and sensible Insight into "End-Time" Prophecies.

To order open the link below:

http://www.nobodyleftbehind.net/order.html

2011-06-02T11:28:00.002-04:00

“Get in the box God”

By Stan Butler

Lately, it seems I’m having more conversations with people who lay claim to the title of being a Christian (literally: follower of Christ), but during the course of the conversation when I ask, “Where do you attend church,” they reply, “Oh, I don’t go to church. I’m not religious, but I consider myself very spiritual.” They want no claim or affiliation to “organized religion” even though the scriptures mention the term “religion” five times and the term “religious” twice, and each and every time in a positive context.

And why wouldn’t the Lord’s church be organized, and in fact, well organized? There are leadership roles to be filled, services to be held, missions to be tended to, prayers to be offered, unified singing and teachings to take place, and much more. All this is to be accomplished in an orderly and organized manner in which the leaders will be held accountable for overseeing.

These “independent” but not religious Christians find the Bible to be a perfect instruction book only when they egregiously reinterpret it and force it to fit their own theology. As long as God is in their box, they feel at ease with their situation. But when shown that they in fact need to get into God’s box…they balk. They insist that church attendance is not necessary to have a relationship with and/or to please God. I find that scripture teaches to the contrary. Let’s put to the test if a person can fulfill God’s wishes by setting in a boat somewhere on a beautiful sunny Sunday morning “at one with the Creator,” or sitting on a back patio with a good cup of coffee and their Bible, or some other like scenario instead of being in a church assembly with other Christians on the Lord’s Day.

For starters, in Hebrews 10:25; we read, “Not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.” This statement alone should be reason enough to silence all excuses, reasonings, and alibis for not being in a fellowship with other Christians on the Lord’s Day. How many times does God have to say something before we are to believe it? It is written in the form of a command, not a request, but here is where these “independent Christians” start saying, “Get in the box God.”

For the most part, they just ignore Hebrews 10:25 as though the passage doesn’t exist. They tell others how much they love and serve God…they just fail to mention how they live in total disobedience to many of the commands that are in His Covenant, and so in their disobedience, they defiantly tell the Almighty… “Get in the box God.” The usual excuse for not attending church is that they don’t want to worship with hypocrites. This excuse doesn’t hold a lot of water because these “independent Christians” buy their gas at the same service stations, buy their food at the same grocery stores, and dine out in the same restaurants these hypocrites do. Some even work directly with them in the work place. They mingle and manage to live with them six days a week in every scenario imaginable but can’t tolerate to worship with them for a couple hours on the Lord’s Day. Perhaps the God in their box will have a special place in heaven just for them where they can spend eternity away from all the fellowship and jubilant rejoicing of the forgiven saints who were once “hypocrites” but washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Many of these “independent Christians” have been lied to, lied about, been wrongfully accused, mistreated, abused, had their reputation harmed and decided to separate themselves from “organized” religion. I have had every instance mentioned above happen to me. I felt like leaving and getting as far as I could from “these” people, but keep in mind that “these” people are God’s elect even though imperfect. So let’s look at what God has to say about these situations and the reasons I had to “buck up” and remain in His box:

Matthew 6:15; "If you forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." This scripture doesn’t exist for them, because these “independent Christians” believe that they are being forgiven on a daily basis even though they have not forgiven those that have trespassed them. “Get in the box God.”

Matthew 5:44; "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." “Independent Christians” need to start loving, blessing, and praying for those they feel have wronged them. Putting distance between themselves and an “organized religion” problem while expecting God to love, bless and answer their prayers is just another way of saying, “Get in the box God.”

Jesus commanded throughout the New Covenant that we Christians “Love one another.” How is it showing love to separate and refuse to fellowship with the body of Christ? How would your immediate earthly family feel if you were to say you love them, but refuse to fellowship with them at family gatherings? Actions speak much louder than words. “Get in the box God.”

Here is a short and incomplete list of things which God mandates that an “independent Christian” should do but cannot fulfill by absenting themselves from church services:

Hebrews 10:25; exhort one another. “Get in the box God."
Acts 20:7; take Communion with others. “Get in the box God.”
Acts 2:42; fellowship with others. “Get in the box God.”
Acts 2:42; be steadfast as a part of the body of Christ. “Get in the box God.”
1 Corinthians 16:1; bring ones gifts as God has prospered. “Get in the box God.”
Acts 2:42; join others in prayer. “Get in the box God.”
Colossians 3:16; teach and admonish one another through singing. “Get in the box God.”

The list could go on and on. I think you can see the harm they do to themselves and the body of Christ by their act of sovereignty. Where would the church be if everyone followed their example of separation? They worship and serve a God…but it’s a God of their own making, NOT the God of the Bible. There is just no defense for one of His followers to separate themselves from a body of other imperfect believers and attempting to be a church in/of/and by themselves. Throughout the New Covenant there are mentions of churches in various cities in the first century and no mention that anyone has the right to separate because of hurt feelings and other frivolous reasons.

God has given us His instruction on worship, and we are instructed to worship Him as a church (assembly) on the first day of every week. He tells us as both leaders and individuals how to deal with any problems that arise. To venture off and declare ourselves sovereign from His body (the church) is to manufacture a God of our own making, and He has told us that we are to have no other Gods but Him, and on His terms. Any attempt to make Him something that He is not is to say, I’ve got a box over here God and you’ll fit in it very nicely…now “Get in the box God.”
I wish to express my gratitude to Michael, a “brother in Covenant”, who is my corrective grammarian.

Keeping Covenant with God...a book I highly recommend.

2011-05-19T20:53:00.001-04:00

Michael Haas has recently published a short book on Biblical covenant. Years of study have convinced Michael that the way to fully understand God’s plan for humanity is through the concept of covenant. As he sought to tell his friends and family about covenant, he looked for an introductory book that would explain the basics of what he believed.

After much searching, Michael was unable to find an easy-to-read book that explained how to study the Bible as covenant. Realizing that he was expecting someone else to do the work that he was capable of doing himself, Michael sat down to write the book he was searching for. Keeping Covenant with God: Living by the Blood of Jesus is the result.

Filled with engaging examples straight from the Bible and stories from Michael’s own life, Keeping Covenant with God explains the fundamentals of God’s plan of salvation in simple terms that anyone can understand. You don’t need to attend seminary to understand God’s love for you and see how every piece of the Bible fits together. You don’t need an advanced degree to answer the “hard” questions about Christianity. Reading the Bible through the lens of covenant is all you need.

Available at Amazon.com

2011-04-21T23:36:00.014-04:00

Breaking Bread According to the Book
by Stan Butler

Among some professed followers of Christ in the world of Christendom, the thought that believers must conform their way of thinking and/or their way of doing things to the teachings of Jesus, at times is not a popular idea. Furthermore, to conform to these teachings is not usually thought of as a way of being accepted by God. And those who would dare call attention to any discrepancies in the way something is being done contrary to the oracles of God, usually results in the term “legalist” being applied to the attention caller. Well now, please allow me to label myself a “legalist”, at least for the duration of this post.

Jesus promised the twelve disciples: “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you.” (John 14:26) And, “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you in all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come.” (John 16:13)

In these two passages of Scripture, Jesus is talking to His twelve disciples who walked this earth with Him, talked with Him, ate with Him and physically touched Him, not to any of the leaders of 240 denominational churches, councils, synods, and not to yours truly Stan Butler, and not even to you Mr. or Mrs. John Doe. The promise of the Holy Ghost we (the world) received at our baptism is that “He will reprove (convict) us of sin (what’s wrong), of righteousness (what’s right), and of judgment (the rewards for doing what’s right and the perils for doing what’s wrong).” (John 16: 8-11) He does not give us new revelation on when and what we can change as we please concerning the administration of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So what the Apostles wrote and we read in the Scriptures concerning the early church and its administration is the direct result of the guidance of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised His disciples. After reading and discerning the Scriptures, we must conform to how things were done in the Early Church if we are to please God.

The subject at hand is “breaking bread.”
When in the Scriptures does “breaking bread” mean “ a common meal”?
When does “breaking bread” mean “the Lord’s Supper”?
Can we discern the difference?

The world at large does not apply the term “breaking bread” to eating today as they did in the first century church. Therefore, when seeing the term “breaking bread” used in the Scriptures, we must examine the context to determine when a common meal is being referenced or if the verse is speaking about the Lord’s Supper. Let’s look at the examples given in the Scriptures and put them in perspective.

As a common meal the Scriptures show that an actual breaking of bread took place in Matthew 14:19; 15:36, Mark 6:41; 8:6&19, Luke 9:16; 24:30 and in Acts 27:35. And a figurative breaking of bread in Luke 24:35; and Acts 2:46.

As the Lord’s Supper the scriptures show an actual breaking of bread in Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19 and 1 Corinthians 11:24. And a figurative breaking of bread in Acts 2:42; 20:7&11.

Also 1 Corinthians 10:16 describes the “breaking of bread” in the Lord’s Supper as a sharing, a fellowship, a communion, or a participation in the body of Christ.

With minimum study of the Scriptures, a concerned believer can determine both on what day of the week the saints met to eat the Lord’s Supper (break bread) and that it was the main reason they met. We will find Acts 20:7 to be a big aid in that determination. Luke records; “and upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached to them… Paul just happened to be in Troas visiting, so the preaching was secondary. The primary reason for assembling themselves together was to participate in the Lord’s Supper, to break bread. Notice should be taken that this happened on the first day of the week, and would come to be known as the Lord’s Day in the early church. (Revelation 1:10)

This is backed up by Paul’s statement to the Corinthians who when gathered together in one place were scolded for their misuse of the Lord’s Supper. (Corinthians 11:20-34). They were told that if they were hungry…to eat at home.

We find in Acts 2:42 that the early church was steadfast in this practice of breaking bread. We also see that this was done in a church setting as prayers were offered, doctrine was taught, and fellowship was enjoyed. Offerings were also taken up during these Lord’s Day assemblies as is noted in 2Corinthians 16:2

Acts 2:46 lets us know that they met daily in the temple, but ate their common meals breaking bread from house to house and ate their meat with gladness of heart. They did not observed the Lord’s Supper every time they met.

The Lord’s Supper was not just another “nice” thing they did when they assembled. To them it was the very reason why they met, the center piece of the worship service. Many of them were possibly there when Jesus was mocked, beaten, and crucified. They may have seen His blood being spilt. They knew that once cleansed of sin through baptism, that this was the way to participate in that spilt blood for the forgiveness of their sins as believers. There is no doubt in my mind that the Holy Ghost recalled to memory the words of Jesus when He said to His disciples, “Verily, Verily, I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day, for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him.” (John 6:53-56) And no doubt the Holy Ghost refreshed their memory back to when Jesus taking bread in the upper room, broke it and said, “Take eat, this is my body.” (Mark 14:22) and holding the cup said, “Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the New Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28) They wanted an ongoing cleansing upon confession and repentance. They wanted to dwell (remain) in Christ their New Covenant, and they wanted Him to dwell (remain) in them as well. Thus they were obedient to the teaching and instruction of the Apostles to gather weekly on the Lord’s Day and renew their commitment to that Covenant.

Can we do any less than the pattern left for us to follow, i.e. offer Communion on a monthly, quarterly, semi annual or annual basis? “Absolutely not!” is the restorer’s cry. “We can do as we please!” is the reformer’s cry.

Can we do any more than the pattern left for us to follow, i.e. offer Communion at weddings, funerals, special services such as Good Friday, and Christmas Eve? “Absolutely not!” is the restorer’s cry. “We can do as we please!” is the reformer’s cry.

As for me and my house, we’ll meet when the church is assembled for worship and/or Bible study and we’ll participate in the Lord’s Supper only once a week, every week, and only on the first day of the week, as was the pattern in the early church.

I now relinquish my label of “legalist.”

I wish to express my gratitude to Michael, a “brother in Covenant”, who is my corrective grammarian.

2011-04-18T22:25:00.006-04:00

Participation in BLOOD: His way
by Stan Butler

Blood…the sight of it makes some people become light headed and feel as though they are going to faint. Diabetics like me, see our own blood several times each day and don’t give it a second thought. Surgeons, nurses, and hospital staff see other people’s blood on a daily basis without any problem. So we see that the sight of blood affects a variety of people in various ways.

Then there is a group of people that not only want to not see blood…they don’t even want to think about it or hear it mentioned…ever. Many in the religious world are that way. They’re squeamish when it comes to blood. They have joined ranks together and formed a denomination of their own making so they can avoid it altogether. They have hymnbooks in which the word “blood” can not be found, they make no mention about it when preaching from their pulpits, and they don’t teach about it in their Bible studies. If it were possible and could be made intelligently feasible, they’d probably have their own version of the Bible printed up without the word “blood” in it as well.

But like it or not, we serve a God which has always had a use for blood. His use: “it is blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11)

Blood then: Under the Old Covenant, God’s people, the children of Israel, were never to consume the blood of any manner of flesh (sacrificed or otherwise) and if they did, they would be considered unclean and be “cut off”(no longer be a part of the Nation of Israel). However, if they disobeyed this mandate, there was a ceremony they could go through to become clean again, i.e., they were to wash their clothes, bathe themselves in water, and would remain unclean until evening. But…if they did not go through this cleansing ceremony… they would not only be “cut off” but they would “bear their iniquity.” (Remain unclean, and if they died, they’d do so in their sin) (Leviticus 17:10-16)

Blood now: Jesus is our New Covenant. (Isaiah 42:1-7)(Isaiah 49:1-8)(Matthew 12:16-21)(Luke 4:16-21)(Ephesians 2:13-15) And under our New Covenant, God’s people who are now called Christians (Acts 11:26) (Acts 26:28) (1Peter 4:16) are to follow the instructions of Jesus concerning the consumption of blood. His instructions were very different from that of His Father’s to the Israelites. Different Covenant…different instructions. His instruction (commandment i.e. “this do”) to the Christian is to drink blood…His blood. (Matthew 26:27-28)

Jesus made a statement early in His ministry that was considered a “hard saying.” Here’s some of what He said; "Verily, Verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.” (Emphasis mine) (John 6:53) And wouldn’t you know it’s considered a “hard saying” yet today. But…it’s only a “hard saying” because people complicate it and make it hard. His disciples knew nothing of the Lord’s Supper at the time He said these words and couldn’t conceive in their wildest imagination what He was talking about. But it all came together for them a few years later in the upper room when He offered them some bread and told them it was His body and to eat it, and He offered them the cup and told them it was His blood, His blood of the New Covenant and to drink it. If you’ve read the story you probably noticed that they didn’t cock their heads to one side and look at Him as if they didn’t know what He was talking about…instead, they took the bread and readily ate it and they took the cup and they readily drank it, and without question. They ate and drank without uttering, “This is a hard saying.”

Many Christians today make it so hard by contesting, “The fruit of the vine” was in the cup…not blood.” Well, these same Christians probably believe every miracle that Jesus performed except for one, His first one…turning water into wine. For me it’s pretty simple, if He can turn water into wine, which He can and He did, then why is it not possible for Him to turn “the fruit of the vine” into blood? I say, He can and He does.

When we read the words of Jesus, we need to put complete trust in what He says to the point to where if we were reading a passage of Scripture and it said, “Your name, get up and run through yonder wall,” that we would immediately get up and take off running and expect Him to have made a hole in the wall by the time we reach it. (I heard that in a sermon one time)

I take Communion as Jesus offered it in the Scriptures, and here’s why. “Verily, Verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.” There is life in the blood. I choose life. How about you?

Footnote: I wish to express my gratitude to Michael, a “brother in Covenant”, who is my corrective grammarian.

2011-04-08T10:27:00.022-04:00

Why 1John1:7-9?

As I sat in the worship service this past Lord's Day preparing myself to participate in the body and blood of my Savior (1 Corinthians 10:16) by way of the Communion portion of the service, I was reading the passage of scripture found in 1John 1:7-9.

1John 1:7-9; (7) if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. (8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

“Why 1John 1:7-9 you may ask, for a passage to meditate on before taking Communion?” “What does this passage of Scripture have to do with Communion anyway?” Well, I believe it has everything to do with Communion. Allow me to explain my thoughts on this passage.

First off, Communion is not something I participate in to remember Jesus; I do so because I remember Him. For me, the Bible teaches that Communion is: 1) Covenant keeping (Luke 22:19; Jesus commanded, “This do”) and 2) Covenant renewal (John 6:56; “He that eateth (a continuing action) my flesh, and drinketh (also a continuing action) my blood dwelleth (also a continuing action) in me and I in Him”). By partaking every week, I’m telling Jesus that I want to continue in a Covenant relationship with Him and so I’m renewing that commitment I made when I was baptized into Christ, who is the New Covenant. So 1John 1:7-9 to me is steeped in Covenant, it is soaked in Covenant language, and it shouts Covenant in every word.

Why do I connect Covenant to Communion? That’s easy to understand and explain.

1) Jesus is the New Covenant, (Isaiah 42: 6 & 49:8) and 2) it is the blood of Jesus that is the blood of the New Covenant, (Matthew 26:28) and 3) His blood was shed for the forgiveness of my sins under the New Covenant, (Matthew 26:28) and 4) I must continually confess and repent of my sins to continually to be cleansed with His blood under this New Covenant. (Luke 13: 3&5) (1John 1:9) So, Communion is Covenant connected, or at least to the Covenant minded individual it is.

Here’s more: I feel that I would break the Covenant I entered into and was baptized into if I blatantly missed being at the Lord’s Table for any selfish earthly motives such as, 1) acting on the thought that I need a few extra winks of sleep on any given Lord’s Day, 2) on vacation and not feeling the need to concern myself with such spiritual matters, 3) I have company (house guests) and wouldn’t be a good host if I left them alone to go to church. Such willful actions on my part I feel would cause me to break fellowship with my Lord. For me, there are only two reasons to miss being around the Lord’s Table on the first day of each and every week: 1) Sickness, at which time I would have the bread and cup brought to me. Or 2) Being in a comatose state or dead. It’s just that important.

Let me put it this way and see if 1John 1:7-9 becomes any clearer. Using the Greek word, “koinonia” as translated from the Greek and used in the scriptures. 1Corinthians 10:16, a Communion Scripture, reads like this;

1) The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (koinonia) of the blood of Christ? KJV

2) Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation (koinonia) in the blood of Christ? NIV

3) Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing (koinonia) in the blood of Christ? NASB

This same word (koinonia) is translated “fellowship” in 1John 1:7b.

Thus, this passage could read:

…we have fellowship with one another…

…we have a sharing with one another…

…we have communion with one another…

…we have a participation with one another…

And still be 100% the true word of God.

Thus here’s my thinking when I read 1John 1:7-9.

If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, (that’s pure Covenant terminology: “walking in the light”) we have Communion (koinonia) with one another, (and while doing so) the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, (claiming we’re perfect and have nothing to repent of or confess) we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (Jesus is the truth; John14:6) But…If we confess our sins, He is faithful (1Corinthians 1:9; God is faithful) and just (He is the Justifier; Romans 3:26) to forgive us our sins (Ephesians1:7; redemption through His blood and the forgiveness of sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (simply a rewording of the “cleanseth us from all sin” in verse #7)

There’s a very good reason God has told us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. (Hebrews 10:25)

There’s a very good reason God calls it a sin to willfully do so. It’s in the next verse. (Hebrews 10:26)

It’s because when we do… we tread under foot the Son of God (Jesus’ body), count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing (Jesus’ blood), and do despite (insult) to the Holy Ghost, who prompts us to be there. (Hebrews 10:29)

In closing, I lovingly ask the question, “If we willfully ignore God on the Lord’s Day, and if we willfully show so little respect for the Lord’s Supper to willfully miss participating in it, do we think that the Almighty God of this entire universe just shrugs it off?

Or do we think that just maybe we have willfully broken fellowship with the One who is able to destroy both body and soul? (Matthew 10:28)

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:31)

Written in love…please receive it in the same manner.

In Christ through baptism, remaining in Christ through the Lord’s Supper. (Romans 6:3) (Galatians 3:27) (John 6:56)

I wish to express my gratitude to Michael, a “brother in Covenant”, who is my corrective grammarian.

2011-03-21T20:32:00.007-04:00

Jesus is asking the church: What part of the word “repent” do you not understand?

When Jesus said in Luke 13:3; “I tell you Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all like wise perish”, and then repeated the same statement word for word two verses later in verse #5, do you suppose that He thought perhaps that His audience didn’t hear Him correctly the first time? Or could it have been possible that it was His way of saying, “What part of the word repent do you not understand?”

Seems the contemporary church of today, with its contemporary leaders, need for the Lord Jesus to suddenly appear in the contemporary pulpits of these churches and repeat these words over and over till it’s understood that when He says, “I tell you Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”, He means it. Perhaps, and I just say perhaps, that’s what it would take for churches and leaders to take seriously the simple, easy to understand word… “repent.”

What is running rampant in the religious world today that needs to be repented of is sexual immorality. The idea that a man and a woman can call themselves Christians, be considered members in good standing of a congregation, and yet live together as “significant others” and not as man and wife. It is happening today and it’s happening at a rampant pace, and all the while, Jesus is echoing, “I tell you Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

God has sanctioned marriage between a man and a woman from the beginning. (Genesis 2)
Jesus’ mother was married. (Luke 2)
Jesus’ first miracle took place at a marriage. (John 2)
An elder or a deacon is to be the husband of one wife, not of one “significant other.” (1Timothy 3)
God left instructions for every Christian man to love his wife (not a “significant other”) as Christ loved the church. (Ephesians 5)
Women are instructed to love their husbands (not a friend they’ve known and slept with for years.) (Titus 2)

God has a few terms He uses for people who live in this situation. Please keep in mind that this is His terminology and not mine. He wrote the Bible, not me. He calls them unrepentant, He calls them unrighteous and He calls them fornicators. Here’s what God has to say about them in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

Again in Galatians 5:19-21; God says they that do such things as fornication will not inherit the kingdom of God.

God places fornicators first on His list and He places them in the same company as homosexuals, drunks, adulterers, thieves, and swindlers. But the leaders of the Lord’s church places them on the front pew of the church for all to see. They show them off as their newest “converts”, and at the same time ask the congregation to embrace them as brothers and sisters “in Christ.” And all the while, Jesus is echoing, “I tell you Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

Paul told the church at Corinth that they were arrogantly allowing sexual immorality to exist in the church, and that they should not associate with such a person but should remove that person from among themselves. He even warned them not to eat with them. This action if taken would hopefully cause the offender “to be sorrowful to the point of repentance.” They heeded Paul’s rebuke and hence Paul’s response in his 2nd letter; “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance.” Jesus was able to stop echoing to the church at Corinth, “I tell you Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

What will it take in your congregation to get Jesus to stop repeating the words; “I tell you Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

Let us always remember to love the sinner and hate the sin while following God's instructions on how to handle any situation.

2011-02-24T06:53:00.002-05:00

"A Time of Self Examination"
A Communion meditation
By Stan Butler

In an upper room, the night before He would become the sacrifice for the sins of the world, Jesus kept the Passover with His trusted and faithful disciples. It was during this last Passover meal that Jesus would celebrate, that He instituted this time of communion that we look forward to each week.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul tell us that while they were eating the Passover meal, Jesus took some bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and then gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And He said to them, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

What often goes unnoticed is that before offering each of them a piece of broken bread which He clearly states is His body, and before offering them a drink from the cup which He clearly states is His blood and the blood of the new covenant, Jesus caused each man to spend a period of time in self examination. He did this by making a statement that disturbed each and every one of them. Here’s what He said in that statement, “Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.” Mark records that they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto Jesus one at a time, “Is it I?” and then another would ask, “Is it I?”

As we take communion each week, a time of self examination should take place just as it did back then. The apostle Paul was well aware that there was to be a time spent examining ourselves before we participate in the body and blood of our Savior. He tells the congregation at Corinth; a man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. The Corinthian church was openly showing disrespect for this time of communion. Their thoughts and motives weren’t where they should be. These Christians weren’t discerning the Lord’s body. Paul had to remind them that when they ate the bread and drank of the cup that they were showing Jesus’ death till His return. He warned them that when they ate and drank in an unworthy manner, they were eating and drinking judgment on themselves.

The word betray that Jesus used in the Greek means “to deliver up”, or “to give over,” which is just what Judas did with a kiss to signify that this is the man you want. And he was still calling Jesus “Master” all the while. Now wouldn’t that take some kind of nerve?

But are we at times any different than Judas? My Oxford dictionary defines the word “betray” as being disloyal to (another person,etc.) When the opportunity to witness for this man we also call Master comes our way, do we sometimes look around and think that perhaps another time or place would be better suited, and we let that opportunity pass us by. That my dear friends, is betrayal. 2Timothy 4:2 says that we are to witness and be instant (quick) in season and out of season…let me break that down for you…when it’s convenient and even when it’s not convenient. Souls are going into a Christ less eternity by the millions because Christians aren’t willing to give Jesus a kiss and identify Him by saying “this is the man you want…this is the man you so desperately need.”

As we sit waiting for the communion trays to make their way to us each Lord’s day, let’s spend some time in self examination, and let us always be willing to ask during this time the question, “Master, did I betray you this past week?”

2011-01-07T19:47:00.004-05:00

Wouldn’t that be wonderful???

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if believers everywhere agreed on the basics of what God’s word has to say on most (no…make that every) given subject? You know, just believe what God says and forget all the commentary by all the uninspired men throughout the ages. Let me repeat,… “just believe what God says.” To put it another way…Let God be true but every man a liar. Romans 3:4

Jesus’ words are recorded in John 17:21 as He prays; That they ALL may be ONE (emphasis mine); as thou Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Unless I have a major misunderstanding of this scripture, Jesus is saying that we CAN convince the world that He is exactly who He claimed to be and save a hell bound world for His kingdom, IF we would ALL be ONE. He died and gave His all for us, so why can’t we make this happen for Him?

Just say the words, “Jesus is Lord,” (Philippians 2:11) and believers of every persuasion throw their hands in the air and start shouting and praising God…all in agreement. “That they ALL may be ONE.” Isn’t it wonderful?

Just the mention of “heaven” and there’s instant agreement across the spectrum of the maze of denominationalism. Hours of agreed conversation will be spent in telling of its wonders and splendor. “That they ALL may be ONE.” Isn’t it wonderful?

Utter the words from the pulpit, “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1Peter 1:16) and you’ll hear a resounding “AMEN” with shouts of “preach on preacher” from the pews of churches worldwide. “That they ALL may be ONE.” Isn’t it wonderful?

Proudly proclaim that baptism is “for the remission of sins,” (Acts 2:38) and some believers scream to the top of their lungs, Liar…Liar…SALVATION BY WORKS… but who are they calling a liar? “That they ALL may be ONE.” Isn’t it pathetic?

Patiently try to explain that Paul was told to “arise and be baptized to have his sins washed away.” (Acts 22:16) and some believers with clinched fists will try to explain that Paul was saved on the road to Damascus…not in the waters of baptism. “That they ALL may be ONE.” Isn’t it pathetic?

Read aloud the scripture “baptism doth also now save us” (1 Peter 3:21) and some believers will swear through gritted teeth on the very Bible that proclaims this, that baptism has nothing to do with salvation and that it’s the first act of a Christian and not the last act of a sinner…when it’s really the other way around. It IS the last act of a sinner in order to become a Christian. “That they ALL may be ONE.” Isn’t it pathetic?

There’s a problem with writing a post on a blog…at times the reader can’t tell the “tone” it is written in. Like this post…it’s written and I’m trying my best to present it in a loving and pleading tone. Satan would have readers to think and believe that I’m being sarcastic and mean spirited when I write, Isn’t it pathetic?, but I really mean it…Isn’t it pathetic? Jesus leaves the glories of heaven to become the perfect sacrifice for the sins of man and we can’t even agree on how those sins He died for are washed away. I repeat…Isn’t it pathetic?

There are bloggers that have sidebars that refute every single scripture that deals with baptism being for the washing away of our sins, and it’s usually the words of some preacher they’ve latched onto and not their own words. When God simply says in one short sentence, “be baptized for the remission of sins,” they write four pages of dialogue to try and explain why He really didn’t really mean what He said.

Just about every believer will agree that one has to have faith to be saved, (even those that include baptism)

Just about every believer will agree that one has to repent of past sins to be saved, (even those that include baptism)

Just about every believer will agree that one has to confess that Jesus is a risen Savior to be saved, (even those that include baptism)

Then there’s that group that maintain that one must be baptized to be saved, (this group would exclude those that say you’re saved by faith alone)

I just don’t understand why we ALL can’t be ONE and take all the scriptures that deal with salvation by faith, salvation by repentance, salvation by confession, and salvation by baptism, and use them all when presenting the gospel to the lost. “That they ALL may be ONE.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful?

It would seem that believers spend more time arguing and fussing about baptism and Communion (the two places that the blood of Jesus can be applied) than is spent actually witnessing to the lost to save a soul. Satan hates the blood of Jesus and is sitting back with a smile on his face while watching millions of souls slip into eternity without that blood being applied…and ALL because we stubbornly won’t agree to be ONE. Isn’t that pathetic?

Don’t you think it’s time for believers everywhere to warm the very heart of God and fulfill the desire that Jesus has for those who claim to love and follow Him? “That they ALL may be ONE.” Now… wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Think about it…Think about it hard…Wouldn’t that be wonderful???

2010-12-30T21:35:00.008-05:00

That's My King

Click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE&feature=related

2010-12-03T07:54:00.003-05:00

THE FORMULA FOR SIN

The formula for sin can be found in I John 2:16; For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father, but is of the world.
These three things are “weapons” that the devil uses to tempt us and when we give in to these temptations, we sin; 1) the lust of the flesh, 2) the lust of the eyes, and 3) the pride of life. We are told in 1John 2:16; that “they are not of the father, but are of the world.” Therefore they are enmity with God and an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

Let’s look at the definitions of lust and pride as they are used in 1John 2:16. Strong’s concordance defines the word lust as: a longing or yearning, to set the heart upon. (Especially for what is forbidden) Strong also defines the word pride as boasting. Vine’s expository dictionary adds vain glory to the definition of pride.

Now let’s look at the first temptation that involved all three of these “weapons” being used. It’s the first commandment ever given and the first temptation ever to ignore it. The commandment is found in Genesis 2:16-17; and the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest eat freely: But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Of course we all know what follows. Satan tells Eve that she shall not surely die, but will become as a god. And then the temptation, Eve looks at the tree of knowledge of good and evil and in Genesis 2:6 we read; And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Now let’s break this down:

1) “The woman saw that the tree was good for food” would fall under the “lust of the flesh” weapon. Eve was thinking of nourishment for her fleshly body. It wasn’t like she was starving. God gave her and Adam food from all the other trees in the garden. It was the desire for this forbidden fruit (food) that she had a yearning and longing for.

2) Next she saw that the tree was pleasant to the eyes. Satan’s “lust of the eyes” weapon falls into the equation now. This food was not only forbidden, it was actually very pleasing and enticing to the eyes. Have you ever noticed how a thing always looks so much more pleasing or appealing when you can’t have or posses it?

3) And finally she saw that the tree was to be desired to make one wise. Ah, Satan’s weapon, “the pride of life” shows up to finish off the temptation. To be wise, to gain knowledge, to be smarter than others. What a thing to be desired. What a thing to be able to boast about. What a way to gain vain glory for ones self.

Then the end result of Eve giving in to temptation. SIN. God who cannot lie; (Titus 1:2) being true to Himself, allowed death to enter into His creation. After further study of Genesis 2:16-17, it may not only be thought of as the first commandment ever given to man, but the very first covenant God ever made with man as well. There were no animals cut in half for the parties to walk through to show their agreement because death had not entered into the world at the time God made it, but other parts of “covenant making” were present; the parties involved were there, the stipulations were there, the blessings and cursings were there. The fact that they were naked and didn’t realize it could have been a sign of this covenant, and when the covenant was broken, they knew they were naked and hid themselves.

In Old Testament times, we know that covenants were solidified by walking between the halves of cut and bloodied animals. No animals were slain for our new covenant to come into being, but consider this; Jesus’ body was broken, cut open by the scourgings and the spear, and His blood was shed, and he was (lifted up) suspended between heaven and earth (between God and man if you will) while on that cross reconciling man back to God. Do you see any similarities?

Since Jesus has been mentioned, let’s look thousands of years ahead at the three temptations that Jesus went through at the hands of the devil and we’ll see that the devil hasn’t changed much, as he uses the very same three weapons when tempting Jesus that were used in tempting Eve, and let’s also look to see what weapons were in Jesus’ arsenal.

Matthew 4:1-3; Then was Jesus lead of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward a hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

We need to first take notice that Satan, knowing that Jesus hasn’t eaten for forty days uses the “lust of the flesh” weapon just as he did with Eve. Knowing that Jesus “was a hungred” and would want to take nourishment for his fleshly body, and that he’d be at his weakest if tempted with food, he wants him to turn the stones into bread. Also notice that he tries to put pressure on Jesus by saying “if you are the Son of God,” thinking Jesus might jump at the chance to prove that fact, but Jesus knew exactly who he was and felt the need to prove it to anyone. Verse #4 says; But he answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Wow, what an arsenal: the word of God. Jesus comes back at him with scripture. Satan probably thought he’d say something like, “I am the Son of God and I could if I wanted to ….”, but he just ends the whole thing by quoting the word of God. The word of God is a two edged sword and able discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb 4:12. Being double edged, no matter how you swing it, it can cut to the quick.

Since Satan failed in the first attempt, why not try again. Let’s look at the second temptation in Matthew4: 5-6; Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, if thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Enter “the pride of life.” Pride was the very thing that caused Satan to fall, saying, "I will be like the most High." (Isaiah 14:12-14) Now he wants Jesus to take pride in the fact that if he is the Son of God that nothing could possibly happen to him with all of heavens angels ready to do his bidding. Little does he know the harm that God will and does allow to come to Jesus as he drinks the cup of God’s wrath on the cross. Jesus doesn’t fall from the pinnacle and he doesn’t fall for Satan’s weapon “the “pride of life” either. Instead, Jesus goes to his arsenal and uses another of God’s scriptures successfully against him by saying in verse 7; “It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Do you think Satan quoted scripture at Jesus hoping he wouldn’t come back with scripture in return? Strike two Satan.

Matthew 4: 8-9 records the last temptation; Again, the devil taketh him up to an exceedingly high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Satan uses his last weapon, “the lust of the eyes.” Silly stupid devil, don’t you know that Jesus created all the beauty and glory of what you just offered him and they already belong to him. (John1:1-3) Jesus knew it so he didn’t even go there, instead he went for the juggler. Satan who still wanted to be exalted above God and be worshipped was told by Jesus in verse 10; “Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

Eve didn’t have the scriptures to resist the devil with, (none had been put to pen yet) but she should have used her faith (belief) that when God says something…he really means it. He doesn’t waste words and he doesn’t talk to hear himself talk. We as Christians cannot live in sin, but when tempted, we do sin when we don’t resist. Here are some things he has spoken that we’d be smart to pay close attention to:

1) Psalm 119:11; Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Jesus had the scriptures memorized and that’s how he was an over comer when tempted. We can do the same.

2) James 4:7; Resist the devil and he will flee from you. We’re told in the book Matthew that the devil “left” Jesus. We’re told here in the book of James that he will “flee” (run away) from us. He won’t flee unless we resist and we can resist the same way Jesus did by quoting scripture when tempted.

3) Romans 6:16; Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. I may be accused of misusing this scripture but to me it says…I can spend hours watching the filth that’s on television and feeding that garbage into my spirit, or…I can spend that same time in the word of God and stay spiritually healthy. Then when I’m out in the real world, I won’t be a servant to the sin of profanity in my conversations, I won’t take a second and third look at another woman and be a servant of the sin of adultery thru the lust of the eyes.

How’s the saying go? Garbage in…garbage out. Jesus said in Luke 6:45b; “for out of the abundance of the heart a man speaketh.” Your heart spoken of here is not that organ that pumps blood, it’s your inner being, your brain. God gives sound advice in Proverbs 4:23; Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. The word “keep” used here means to guard, to protect, and to maintain. Let’s admit we shouldn’t live in sin, but let’s also admit we do sin, and we do it’s because we’re weak. And then let’s admit we are weak because of what we fill ourselves with. Get in the word of God and memorize it, get it into your heart…and then guard your heart.

2010-11-09T09:48:00.005-05:00

"GO AND SIN NO MORE"

In the 8th chapter of John, a story is told that while Jesus was teaching a crowd of people in the temple one day, the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Him and said that they had caught her in the very act of adultery. That must have been embarrassing enough, without being brought before a crowd only to be embarrassed again. They then proceeded to tell Jesus that according to the Law of Moses, she ought to be put to death by stoning, and wondered what He had to say about that. They asked Him this to trick Him, but instead, He turned the tables on them. He bent down and using His finger wrote on the ground. He then stood up and said, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.” You know the story, they all left one by one and with no one left to condemn her, Jesus said two things to her, “Neither do I condemn thee,” and then the words, “Go and sin no more,” or in other words, “don’t do it again.”

Under the old covenant, sins committed weren’t remitted. A sin under the old covenant could only be pushed back till Calvary and the cross, because the blood of an animal isn’t, wasn’t, and never will be capable of remitting sin. We deserve death when we sin just as that woman caught in adultery, but because Jesus died for our sins, there’s not a stone cast in our direction. The only accusers we have are ourselves and the devil.

Our covenant however is one of remittal. Jesus when he instituted communion and holding the cup said in Matthew26:28, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” At His table, we examine ourselves and if we do a through examination, we then have to admit and we have to confess to sins that we have been caught in the very act while doing. There’s not a sin we can commit that can be done in secret. God sees all and knows all. According to 1Cor 11:31&32, as we examine our selves, we judge ourselves so we won’t be condemned with the world. And because of the blood of the New Covenant, Jesus says, “neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more,” or in other words, “don’t do it again.” It sounds impossible, “Go and sin no more.” But Jesus wasn’t telling her she had to go and live a sinless life; he was telling her not to commit adultery again, not to continue living in the immoral situation she was in.

I don’t know about you but to me, it’s an embarrassment to stand before Jesus during the examination time of communion and confess to the same sin week after week and promise week after week to repent of the same sin. We sing a song with the words, “I stand amazed in the presence, of Jesus the Nazarene.” Sometimes I feel as if I should sing, “I stand embarrassed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene.” So, if you feel anywhere close to where I’m coming from, after you’ve eaten and drank of His precious body and blood, tell him “Jesus, thank you for not condemning me and I will go and sin no more. I promise I won’t keep committing this same sin. And this time Jesus, I’ll keep my promise.”

"Who's the greatest?"

2010-10-11T21:40:00.001-04:00

A Communion meditation
By Stan Butler

Cassius Clay, professional boxing heavyweight champion of the world, later to be known as Muhammad Ali, could usually be seen prancing around in front of mirrors flexing his muscles and admiring as he called it, “his pretty face.” He would then look into the cameras that would be showing America and the rest of the world that evening these goings on and say the words, “I am the greatest.” He’s not making these claims anymore though. The last I saw of him, he’s a shell of a man that he once was. Now feeble and shaking uncontrollably from a diseased body, he can hardly speak these words that were once his trademark, and needs help to perform even the easiest of task.

Seems that men today have always sought greatness or to be the greatest. That same aim was true back in the days that our Lord walked this earth. At the Passover meal that Jesus instituted this fellowship at, Luke gives us an insight about all the disciples having this problem of wanting to be the greatest. Listen to what he wrote, Luke 22:24, “and there was also a strife among themselves, as to which of them should be accounted the greatest.” The word strife used here signifies in the Greek, “an eagerness to contend.” They were not only willing but were also eager to contend about this matter of greatness. Jesus quickly showed and told them that any greatness they’d receive would be through service to others. I believe we are no exception.

Listen as I read what’s recorded in Matthew 26:26-28; And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Jesus had hardly spoken these words and they started to contend about this matter of greatness.

Allow me to share an insight that I got out of this meditation as I was preparing it. Sitting here waiting to share in the bread and the cup,… (pause) you are not the greatest. The person that is about to serve you the bread and the cup,… (pause) is not the greatest. And the orator giving this meditation,… (pause) is not the greatest. The Greatest is sitting at the right hand of the Father on our behalf this very minute. It is His body and blood you are about to participate in. 1 Corinthians 10:16

Brethren, after a time of meditation and self examination, after we eat and drink, after the service is over, after the doors are locked and we’re all going our separate ways, let’s not give a thought to being the greatest. But let’s put all our thoughts and efforts into being the best…the best we can be in living a godly and holy life for the Greatest, the best in being a witness in the coming week so that we can increase the kingdom of the Greatest for the Greatest. Let’s spend time talking to the Greatest. Let’s read the book written about the Greatest. And then next week, let’s assemble once again and let’s worship the Greatest.

For the Joy set before Him

2010-09-22T11:53:00.001-04:00

By Stan Butler

Heb 12:2---Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

As I read this scripture, the words “for the joy that was set before Him” stood out. And I thought of how shameful the cross was, how much Jesus must have despised what he was going to have to endure, and I wondered how he could have related any joy with a death of that magnitude. Let me give you three reasons I see… “for the joy that was set before Him.”

#1--John 15:11---Jesus said that He wanted “His joy to remain in us, and that our joy may be full.” Not just be in us, but remain in us. One thing that should constantly be a source of joy and remain in us is that the fear of death is removed for the Christian.

Heb 2:14-15---Since the children have flesh and blood, (that’s you and I) He too shared in their humanity, (God became flesh) so that by His death He might destroy him who had the power of death (that is the devil) and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. If we’re not just playing “lip service” to the resurrection of Jesus, then we really shouldn’t fear dying. And that is something to be joyous about. “for the joy that was set before Him.”

#2--He saw joy over everyone who would accept His death as the atonement for sins. Luke 15:4-7---Jesus spoke the parable of the lost sheep and about the man who left the ninety and nine and went to find the one that was lost and when he finds it calls all his friends together so they can rejoice with him and likewise that joy would be in heaven over one sinner that repents. Then without skipping a beat, and in the same breath, in Luke 15:8-10, Jesus spoke the parable about the woman who has ten pieces of silver but loses one. She searches diligently until she finds it, calls her friends together to rejoice with her. He speaks again about the joy that will be in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents. Two parables back to back to illustrate the same thing: Joy in heaven (where Jesus is right now), over everyone that becomes a Christian. “for the joy that was set before Him.”

#3--Deals with eternal fellowship and joy with Jesus face to face. In the 23rd Psalm, it says “that we’ll dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” The house of the Lord is heaven, Jesus is Lord, and forever is forever. Ever wonder what kind of joy that will be? We are given the answer to that question in Psalms 16:11, the psalmist David writes “In thy presence is the fullness of joy.” As we think about heaven, it’s a good thing that we’ll receive glorified bodies upon Christ’s return, because these earthly hearts would probably explode from the adrenalin and sheer joy we’ll experience when we get in the presence of Almighty God. “for the joy that was set before Him.”

So what was the joy that was set before Him? Joy in taking away the fear of death from you and me, Joy each and every time a new soul is added to His church and the Joy that we (Jesus and all of us) will share forever and throughout eternity.

It was on that very cross He endured that He shed His blood. It was on that same shameful cross He despised that He offered His body. And it’s at the Lord’s Table that He offers us the opportunity to participate in this body and blood for the remission of our sins. (1Corinthians 10:16) (Matthew 26:28) Tell me, “Who can turn down an invitation like this?”

Two things now come to my mind... “for the joy that was set before Him.” and "joy for the Table set before us"

REMEMBRANCE

2010-09-07T22:33:00.001-04:00

A Communion meditation

In Luke 22:19; Jesus said “This do in remembrance of me.” The apostle Paul repeats these words in 1Cor 11:24. You’ve heard me say often times that when we observe the Lord’s Supper, it is not a memory exercise that helps us to remember Jesus. How could we ever forget Him whose we are and Him whose name we wear?

The Greek word for “remembrance” used here is a noun, and according to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words is “An-am-nay-sis” and is interrupted- “not in memory of” but in an affectionate recalling of the person himself to mind, and indicates an unassisted recalling. Meaning, we don’t need a little piece of bread or a small cup of the fruit of the vine to remind us of Jesus. Many churches through out this great country of ours will not observe the Lord’s Supper today when they meet and/but they will remember Jesus. I think of Jesus every day and I’m sure you do to, not just on Sundays and surely not just at the Lords Table.

Unlike the Greek word “Hu-pom-nesis” which “denotes a reminding, having received a reminder, a remembrance prompted by another.” If Jesus had used the word Hupomnesis, then the bread and the cup would be used as a reminder, but Jesus used the word Anamnaysis. I repeat, this is not a memory exercise to help us not to forget Jesus.

Jesus does want us to remember the terrible price that was paid for our sins. The way his body was broken, the blood that was shed, the thorns, the nails and the spear, and the wrath of God He experienced while hanging on that cross.

As we eat of the bread and drink of the cup, let us have an affectionate recalling (an-am-nay-sis) of the cross on which he died, and of his innocence. And let us always remember and be faithful to the three commands He gave concerning the Lord’s Supper, “This do, Take eat, and Drink ye”.

A word portrait of God

2010-08-19T11:03:00.004-04:00

by Stan Butler

In 1John 4:8b; a perfect definition of God is found. It says, “God is love.” If God is love, and He is, how can we get a really good word picture of Him? Using the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians commonly referred to as “the love chapter”, we can put the name “God” in every place where we find the word “love.” Here’s how it describes God:

God is patient

God is kind

God does not envy

God does not boast

God is not proud

God is not rude

God is not self-seeking

God is not easily angered

God does not delight in evil

God rejoices in the truth

God always protects

God always trusts

God always hopes

God always perseveres

God never fails

God is love in every sense and definition of the word love.

God’s definition of love:

1John 4:10(NIV); “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Sacrifices for sins were offered on altars. The Jewish Christians of the early church were evidently being ridiculed or reminded that they no longer even had an altar on which to offer a sacrifice. The author of the epistle to the Hebrews writes to them in chapter 13 and verse 10, and tells them; “We do have an altar from which those who still minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.” He was referring to the Lord’s Table. Jesus…His body…His blood…was the sacrifice for our sins, “by this we will have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ once for all.” Hebrews 10:10

This God of love has told us, “If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15) One of those commands is, “This do in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) He is always faithful in His love for us; let’s show Him our faithfulness and our love for Him by keeping this command each Lord's Day.

"Let God be true, and every man a liar"

2010-08-10T05:10:00.001-04:00

By Stan Butler

When discussing a spiritual subject with someone, I usually try to respond as often as possible with, “according to the scriptures God says…” instead of… “well, I believe”, or… “I feel that.” The reason for this is that what I believe or how I feel about something is subject to change, but what God has had to say on a subject NEVER changes. The Bible was written so ordinary men just like you and I could read and understand it, although at times it may require some study. It doesn’t take a college professor, a preacher of high esteem, or even a preacher of low esteem, a Sunday school teacher, a Rabi, an elder, or a deacon, or a priest to read and relate us what this book says. I find no place in the Bible that God has asked for assistance from denominational man made written Creeds or Books of Discipline. For me, the Word of God is the first and the last word. It stands alone.

To start with I would like to ask a question and please don't be offended… “Would you ever call God a liar?” Myself, I don’t have the intestinal fortitude (the guts) to do that. I find in Titus 1:2; … which God, who cannot lie… And in Hebrews 6:11; …in which it was impossible for God to lie… Now when God says that He cannot lie, it’s settled as far as I’m concerned. Now that wasn’t always the case for me. I grew up attending and joining several denominational churches because I was an Army brat, and we attended the church closest to our home every time we moved at Uncle Sam’s whim. So while growing up, I was a pretty mixed up and confused young man as all these churches had different ideas about what God had to say about the same subjects. When I finally left home, I also left God, the Church, the Bible and everything concerning spiritual things back home as well. Several years passed and one night I accepted the invitation to become a Christian. One of the things these folks told me I had to do to be saved was to be baptized. I hadn’t heard or been taught this in any of the churches I was brought up in, so I decided to check it out for myself. In my research, it wasn’t easy for me to believe what I was reading and studying. What I read was telling me that what my mother and father had believed and taught me was not what God had actually said. And it’s the subject of baptism I want to use to see if perhaps there are those reading this message that are either unknowingly or maybe even defiantly “calling God a liar.” I hope we can agree on one thing: when it comes down to the final authority, “let God be true, and every man a liar.” (Romans 3:4)

Jesus (God in the flesh) said, “Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) Anyone that denies that water baptism is not part of God’s plan of salvation has apparently not read this verse. It’s really not that complicated, it says what it says, so “let God be true and every man a liar.”

This same Jesus said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:16) This doesn’t require much study or thought but it does require some. Let us reason together: according to the scriptures if one will believe and be baptized…he will be saved. Now remember…God says that. Now, good ole rockin’ chair logic would tell us that if for any reason one does not believe, they won’t want to be baptized and thus they will be damned. There are many that teach that all we must do is believe and that baptism is optional. They’ve said to me, I’ve read Mark 16:16 and know that’s what it says but that’s not what it means. Is God lying to us here? It’s really not that complicated so "let God be true and every man a liar."

One more point to make here: there are those that read this verse and apparently have dyslexia. They say after scrutinizing this verse, “He that is baptized and then believeth some years later shall be saved. This would be those churches that practice the sprinkling of infants. Sprinkling is not baptism and using God’s word I’ll expose it as such a bit later. Since Jesus places belief before baptism, can an infant believe in Jesus or confess their sins at a week old? Did God give these churches permission to change the order of things He’s written? I find no such permission given in His Word. It’s really not that complicated so “let God be true and every man a liar.”

Then Peter said unto them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38) These were the terms of pardon that God led Peter to set forth on the Day of Pentecost after preaching the very first gospel sermon. Those that believed the message wanted to know what they must do. Peter told them to repent and be baptized for the remission (forgiveness) of their sins. The word repent and the word baptized are connected by the conjunction “and”. So let us reason together, no repentance…no forgiveness. No baptism…no forgiveness. Belief, repentance and baptism = forgiveness.

Let’s take a look at sprinkling or pouring and see if it fits the mold of the baptisms that are written in the Word of God. First I want you to notice that water is NEVER brought to the candidate for baptism…they are taken to the water and go into the water. Mark 1:5; and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan. Mark 1:10; and straightway coming out of the water. John 3:23; John was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim because there was much water there. Acts 8:38; and they went down both into the water. No where in the scriptures does it even hint that we have permission to sprinkle or pour water over someone and call it baptism or that God will honor it as baptism. Sprinkling and pouring do not represent baptism. In Colossians 2:12; we are told that we are buried with Him in baptism and are risen with Him. You can’t be buried in a sprinkle or pouring of water…it takes much water.

What about the statement that baptism is a work. Actually, there is something that the candidate must do during baptism come to think of it and it’s found in the same verse as used above. Colossians 2:12; says we must have “faith” in the operation (power) of God. Now I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound like work to me and the operation of God is defined in the very next verse…That He (God) has forgiven you all trespasses.

Then there’s the sinners prayer and those who say, “Well, what about Romans 10:13”; “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Well, what about it? It says the very same thing in Acts 2:21; and again in Acts 22:16 where we find both how and when to call on the name of the Lord. Saul (later to be named Paul) had prayed for three solid days not even stopping to eat, was told to “don’t wait…arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Please take note that Saul was not told to be baptized as an outward sign of an inward grace. After three days of prayer, he was still in his sinful condition and today there are those who convince others that by praying a short “sinners prayer” they can be saved on the spot... just be sincere. Is there any doubt that Saul was sincere as he prayed? Look at this conversion…it’s not that complicated so “let God be true, and every man a liar.”

There are only two groups of people in this entire world; those that are in Christ and those that are outside of Christ. There is only one way that according to the scriptures that one is told how to get into Christ…through baptism. Romans 6:3; "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death." Galatians 3:27; "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. We are baptized into Christ. We can’t pray our way into Him, we can’t just believe our way into Him. It’s not that complicated so “let God be true and every man a liar.”

1Corinthians 2:13nasb; …"Speak not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Holy Spirit." Let’s see where some have failed to obey these words.

1) Baptism is a work…human wisdom…not taught in the scriptures.

2) Baptism is an outward sign of an inward grace…human wisdom…not taught in the scriptures.

3) Sinner’s prayer for salvation…human wisdom…not taught in the scriptures.

4) Baptize by sprinkling or pouring…human wisdom…not taught in the scriptures.

5) Repent and believe to be saved, be sprinkled, poured, or immersed later but only if you wish…human wisdom…not taught in the scriptures.

6) Mourner’s bench or altar conversions…human wisdom…not taught in the scriptures.

Let me conclude by quoting God's word…”For by Grace are you saved, through faith.” Take that to the bank. We don’t deserve and can’t earn this salvation but by the Grace of God He has made a way. It’s through the precious blood of His Son Jesus. The water in baptism cannot and does not and never will wash away sin, but it’s there in obedience to baptism that we contact His blood if we do it for the forgiveness of our sins. Now the rest of the verse; through faith…faith as your standing waist to chest high in the water about to be immersed, that your sins are going to be washed away with the blood of Jesus by the power of Almighty God. It’s not that complicated so “let God be true and every man a liar.”

This post is an edited repeat of a previous post “Would you call God a liar?” which was mistakenly removed from my blog archive. Several followers have questioned the “What must one DO to be saved” question on my sidebar and I feel it’s fitting to run this article again. In doing so, I should be answering most questions that have been asked.

"A few words from Jesus"

2010-08-04T20:25:00.001-04:00

A Communion meditation
by Stan Butler

Every word that our Savior spoke that’s recorded in the scriptures is of great value. Sometimes His words were many as He taught His disciples or preached to the multitudes. Sometimes His words were few but to the point. For a devotional one morning, I spent time going through the four gospels looking for short sayings or commands that Jesus had spoke that I could apply or should have already applied to my life. I wanted to put my thoughts into reflections that I might have as I sat at His Table examining myself each week. I’ll share a few of them with you and ask you at this time to put your own reflections on these words as you meditate before partaking of the cup of forgiveness and the bread of life.

In John 18:4; Jesus asked…. “Whom seek ye?”

I had to ask myself questions like: Am I really seeking Jesus in all that I do during the week? Can others see the light and love of this man that I call Savior and Lord, shine through me in the way that I live my life and the conversations of my mouth? Do I truly meditate on His word daily? Do I hide His word in my heart so that when I’m tempted to sin, I can resist and save Him from the heartache of having failed Him again? I have to ask myself this question, “Am I seeking hard after Jesus?”

In Luke 5:27; Jesus said…. “Follow me.”

It’s so easy for me to quickly say, “Well I do that.” But… do I really? Everywhere Jesus went as He walked this earth; He spoke of Himself and told people who He was. His sole purpose in living and dying was to reconcile the world to God. As Christians, to keep our part of the covenant, we’re to do the same, and when I think of the opportunities I missed or just downright ignored this past week to mention His name, I feel there should be a label I can wear on my shirt which reads, “part time Christian”, and it’s one of the reasons I feel drawn to this “Table of forgiveness.”

In John 21:12; Jesus beckoned…. “Come and dine.”

Isn’t it wonderful that Jesus makes this same offer each Lord’s Day and we can “come and dine” at His table, plead the blood of Calvary and seek His forgiveness? That as we examine ourselves and realize we haven’t sought Him as we should, that we haven’t followed Him as we should; that He’s provided a way for us to participate in His body and His blood (1 Corinthians 10:16) and receive His forgiveness and hear the words He spoke in:

In Luke 7:48; “Thy sins are forgiven.”

and

In Luke 7:50; “Go in peace.”

The three cups of Communion

2010-07-16T00:12:00.009-04:00

"The three cups of Communion."
By Stan Butler

Each Lord’s day after the service, someone has to take care of the communion trays. When they lift the lids, I believe there are three cups that they see, the used cup, the misused cup, and the unused cup. Let’s take a look at the people involved with each of these cups.

The used cup---That would be most of the empty ones. Used by Christians, who after careful self-examination, (1Cor 11:28), partake, asking for the forgiveness of their sins, acknowledging that all sin is sin against God and only God. Thankful for that precious shed blood of Jesus, which can and does wash away our sins. They spend their communion time remembering all that Jesus had to endure and suffer so they could enjoy the blessings they’ll receive by partaking.

The misused cup---That would hopefully only be a few of the remaining empty cups. Used by those who didn’t bother to discern the Lord’s body, (1Cor 11:27&29), and ate and drank judgment on themselves by spending their communion time filing their nails, or taking a 5 minute power nap, or wondering if church will let out in time to beat the church down the street to the local restaurant.

The unused cup---That would be the rest of the cups that are still full. Full because of a total disregard for the Lord’s Table, the center point of the worship service on the first day of each and every week. They may have awoke on this Lord's day and decided they needed more sleep and just rolled over and closed our eyes, after all it’s only Sunday and not a work day. Maybe they have a slight headache that they’d probably go to work with, but not to church with, after all, it is only Sunday. We are told not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, (Heb 10:25), that it’s a sin to willfully do so, (Heb 10:26), and that when we willfully do this we #1 trample under foot the Son of God (the bread) #2 treat as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant (the cup), and #3 insult the Holy Spirit(who prompts us to be here), (Heb 10:29).

The elders of this congregation have seen to it that if members of this congregation are shut in or unable to attend, that Communion can and will be brought to them, whether at home or in the hospital. They keep the doors open for the evening services, so those who were unable to attend for reasons beyond their control can partake. There just isn’t much they can do about those who willfully neglect the table. Maybe someday, the person taking care of the communion trays will lift the lid, and there will not be one single full cup that remains.

As for me and my house, we'll not fail to gather around this table on the Lord's Day and it’s not just because of some legalistic doctrine that says we have to, it’s simply because we love Jesus and we want Him to know that we do remember what He has done for us, and because we want our sins washed in His blood.

A Communion meditation

2010-07-03T21:32:00.019-04:00

ONCE UPON A TIME
by Stan Butler

Once upon a time, long long ago, there was this man and this woman, who lived in the most wonderful place. It was called Eden. Eden was such a beautiful place, so calm, so serene, so perfect, the kind of place where you would never find a tear, or a heartache. Life was just so laid back and this man and this woman didn’t have a care in this world. You see, Almighty God created Eden. He’s perfect, that’s the way He does things, perfect, every time. He told this man and this woman that they could live in Eden forever, but that there was only one thing they must never do. Just one. That was to "don’t eat" of the fruit of just one of the many trees that grew in Eden. If they would keep just this one simple rule, they could live happily ever after. But this man and this woman looked at this tree and saw that this fruit looked so good, and just had to see what it tasted like. So, they ate some. And it tasted so good, it was every thing they expected it to be, and why not, after all, Almighty God had made it. And He’s perfect.

But now they had a dilemma on their hands. They had done the one thing Almighty God had told them not to do. For this, Almighty God made them leave that wonderful place and now, life was not going to be so calm, so serene, and so perfect, life wasn’t going to be so laid back and now this man and this woman were going to experience tears and heartaches.

You see, the result of this one very costly mistake was called sin. And the cure for sin would be very costly also. Most would call it priceless. The price would be the very life of Almighty God’s only son. His name is Jesus. He would have to die. And die He did. It was a horrible death. He was beaten and whipped so badly that He was disfigured more than any man. He was spit on, cursed at, ridiculed and mocked and then crucified. And by the way, He was completely innocent. Yet He allowed His body to be broken and His blood to be shed as He died for this man and this woman. But wait, it gets better. When He died, He died for our sins as well.

Once upon a time, long long ago, Almighty God, instead of saying, “don’t eat”, said, “please eat”. He was in a room with people whom He loved, and He offered them some bread and some grape juice. He said the bread was His body and the grape juice was His blood. He told them that if they would be faithful to eat this bread (His body)and drink this juice (His blood) once a week, that they could go to a beautiful place, a place so calm, so serene, so perfect, a place where there would be no tears, and no heartaches. You know, a place much like Eden. A perfect place, perfect because Almighty God created it, remember, that’s the way He does things, perfect, every time.

But, wouldn’t you know, there are so many people who won’t take Almighty God up on this offer to “please eat”. They think more of a few winks of sleep, more of sitting in a boat fishing somewhere, or more of something they deem more important than they do of a piece of bread and a cup of grape juice. Someday, they will stand before Almighty God in this perfect place, and they are going to experience tears and heartaches as they hear this same Almighty God say, “Depart from me, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53) Please don’t be one of those that hear these words. Be faithful to His Table; accept His invitation to “please eat.”

Footnote: Please be advised that I'll be on vacation till 7/15. I will try to make short visits to publish comments from time to time, so please patient. You are not being ignored.

2010-06-28T21:21:00.011-04:00

“What’s in a name?”
by Stan Butler

Names are how we identify ourselves. Without names, it would be almost impossible to talk to another person about someone else, and that might be a good thing if what we were going to say was not edifying.

What if every man on the planet went by the first name “John”, and every woman’s first name were “Jane” and what if they all went by the last name Doe? Think of the confusion taking place in a busy airport as the paging system announces, “Will John and Jane Doe please report to Gate 7”.
Yet that is exactly what God wants us to do with the name He has given us to wear…Christian…and the result would be that there would be no confusion.

Names are important and names are what separate us from one another. And how sad it is that what we call ourselves in the church also separates us, (often bitterly) and divides us into sects and denominations. Jesus in a prayer had this to say, (John 17:20, 21) “Neither pray I for these alone (the apostles), but for them also which shall believe on me through their word (everyone sense the day of Pentecost); that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me”. Jesus wanted all believers to be one and He gave us the reason: that the world would believe.

Paul, in his 1st letter to the church at Corinth had rebuked its members and leadership for the condition they had allowed the Lord’s church to get into. First on his agenda, he rebuked them for dividing the body of Christ because they were claiming; I am of Paul… I am of Apollos…I am of Cephas. They were dividing the body by wearing the name of the person who baptized them. He told them that Christ was not divided, and adds “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” In other words…call yourself Christians, not Paulasites, Apollosites, or Cephasites. They heeded Paul’s rebuke and hence Paul’s response in his 2nd letter; “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance.” How long do you think a preacher would last in a denominational church if he preached this message?

A search of the scriptures will expose one name that stands out for all to see who want to please God. That one name is “Christian”. The word Christian means “follower of Christ”. To wear any other name would imply or perhaps outright say that you follow the teachings of some one else.

Let’s see from the scriptures what God wants us to call ourselves. In Acts 11:26 we read "and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." Hummm…just says Christians, hummm… nothing about a Methodist Christian here, so why would anyone call their self a Methodist? The entire membership of the Methodist church would give all the money that has ever been poured into the coffers of the World Council of Churches and The National Council of Churches as dues if Acts 11:26 only read: And the disciples were called Methodist first in Antioch. But it doesn’t.

In 1 Peter 4:16 we read, "yet if any man suffer as a Christian." Hummm…there’s that name again, Christian. Hummm…nothing about a Catholic Christian here, so why would anyone call their self a Catholic? The entire membership of the Catholic Church, would give every dime and every dollar that has ever been raised from all the beer bashes and bingo games ever played in their basements, if only this verse of God’s word read, Yet if any man suffer as a Catholic. But it doesn’t.

Let’s move on. In Acts 26:28 we read, "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." Hummm…That name just keeps popping up, hummm…certainly nothing about a Baptist Christian here, so why would any one call their self a Baptist? Every man and every woman that has ever worn the name of Baptist, would give all the money ever received in the offering plate and every penny, nickel, and dime ever made in all their bake sales and car washes, if Acts 26:28 would only read, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Baptist. But it doesn’t.

When you engage yourself in conversation with some one and a religious subject comes up, they may ask, “Oh, you’re a Christian?” to which you reply, “Yes”. Invariably, they want to know what kind. What kind? You say. Then they say, “Yeah, you know, what kind”, “Are you a Baptist…Methodist…Nazarene?” And when you tell them that you’re just a Christian, they seem to get perturbed a little, because to them you have to have a label other than that of just a Christian. If handled right (in love), this can be a great opportunity to witness and perhaps persuade them to become a Christian only, and cast off the labels and titles that are keeping us from being one (as Jesus prayed for) and keeping us of convincing the world that He is who He claimed to be and is.

Jesus never planned for Christians to be split into sects and offer a lost and dying world a smorgasbord of different beliefs such as: several different ways that a man could become a Christian; or that by entering a booth and confessing sins to a mere mortal, they could be forgiven; or that once you become a Christian…you’re always a Christian. God made it so simple, its man that has messes it up and complicates it. Believers can't or won't even agree on the name God wants us to wear.

Jesus said, “narrow is the way,” (Matthew 7:14), but man has said “broad is the way”, but if they would read and take heed, they’d see that the broad way leads to destruction and saves no one. Those who listen to these charlatans have to read and study as I had to do to get through the lies and deceit being preached in the pulpits of the denominational churches of today, and some of our pulpits (churches of Christ) as well. The scriptures tell us as Christians to be noble like the Bereians and "search the scriptures daily to see if what we are being taught is so." (Acts 17:11). "Not to be carried about with every wind of doctrine," (Ephesians 4:14), and to "study to show ourselves approved." (2Timothy 2:15).

THE NAME "CHRISTIAN" :

Henry Ward Beecher: "Let me speak in the language of heaven and call you Christians."

Albert Barnes: "These divisions should be merged into the holy name Christian."

Martin Luther: I pray you leave my name alone. Don't you call yourselves Lutherans, but Christians."

John Wesley: "I wish the name Methodist might never be mentioned again, but lost in eternal oblivion."

Charles Spurgeon: "I say, of the Baptist name, let it perish, but let Christ’s name last forever. I look forward with pleasure to the day when there will not be a Baptist living."

The Apostle Peter: "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf" (I Peter 4:16).

The Apostle Paul: "Now, this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" (I Corinthians 1:12,13).

Luke: "And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" (Acts 11:26).

A Father's day post.

2010-06-18T20:51:00.007-04:00

Jesus wept…and I do to.
By Stan Butler

As I stand among fellow brothers and sisters in Christ singing praises or praying to the Lord that I love, I often feel warm tears streaming down my cheeks as my voice becomes broken and I feel a deep ache in my chest, and at times I wonder, “Stan, why do you weep so much?” Why do you have to be so emotional? Why can’t you just be like most other men who pray from the heart,… but without tears? And then there are times when I have a fleeting thought “What must these people be thinking about a grown man who sheds tears almost every time He talks to or about his heavenly Father?”

I used to ask my heavenly Father to remove these tears from my prayers and from the songs of praise that I sing. I feel He’s answered that prayer. His answer was… that I am going to continue to cry and weep, and He is going to continue to bless me as I do. I found recorded in His Word (Psalms 56:8) “put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book.” To think that He keeps record of every time I shed a tear and my tears although I wipe them away… He has them stored in a bottle, His bottle, and they are written down in a book, His book.

I do know that I’m in good company,... that Jesus wept and He’s a man’s man. He is the manliest man that ever lived. I’ve learned that it was the great love Jesus had for Lazarus that caused Him to weep at his grave. It was a great love He felt for Jerusalem that made Him weep over a city. And it was His great love for you and I that caused Him to weep in the garden. It’s my love for God, my heavenly Father that causes me to weep as I speak to Him. I’ve read and my eyes have beheld how majestic, how powerful, how wonderful, how Holy my heavenly Father is, and it’s when I close my eyes to talk to Him, I’m overwhelmed at His awesomeness, His majesty, His Holiness, and my total insignificance, my smallness, my weakness, and yet, when I start to speak…He gives me His undivided attention. He is attentive to my every word.

It helps me to know there are others who have emotions they can’t control. It really does. Shedding tears doesn’t make one any less of a man nor does it make anyone any more spiritual than others. When we shed tears, I think God is washing our eyes so we can see. On this Father’s day, I’d like all the men to whom I send this out to, to pray this prayer with me.

Father, Please keep the tears coming… as I grow when I weep. Mostly I grow closer to you. It’s a closer walk with you that I yearn for; I pine for, so please wash my eyes with tears.

Father, wash my eyes with tears that I might see a world lost in darkness, and then give me a burden for those lost in that darkness.

Father, wash my eyes with tears that I can see the fullness of what Jesus did on the cross for me and then keep those tears flowing till I’m willing to share what I’ve seen with others.

Father, wash my eyes with tears that I can see the kind of husband, father, and grandfather you would have me be, and then help me to love my family as I should.

Father, wash my eyes with tears that as I read your Word, I’ll see your truth as I search for your knowledge, then help me to apply that truth and knowledge to my everyday life.

Father, wash my eyes with tears that I might always see Jesus as my Savior, my Redeemer, my Justifier, and my Friend.

And it’s in the precious, the wonderful and the Holy name of my Savior Jesus that I ask you to please do these things. Amen

Steadfast

2010-06-01T22:37:00.008-04:00

STEADFAST: A Communion meditation
By Stan Butler

Acts 20:7…And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread…

1 Corinthians 11:26…For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup; ye do show the Lord’s death till he comes.

Acts 2:42… And they continued steadfast in the breaking of bread.

The people we show the Lord’s death to are witnesses. A witness is described in the dictionary as one who can attest to or prove something. Let’s take a look at who some of these witnesses are that we show the Lord’s death to by being present at His Table each week.

The first and most important witness we show is Jesus. He’s watching… It’s His Table… He gave the invitation, and He knows all those who are present. He has a word that He uses to describe those who make an appearance at His Table every Sunday…steadfast. (Acts 2:42) Isn’t that a sweet sound to your ear? Put your name in here as I say this; “Stan” is steadfast… “June” is steadfast… It’s just nice to have that word associated with your name.

Secondly, we show the Lord’s death to the world. Oh yeah, they’re watching. Your neighbors see what you do. They’re nosey. They can’t help it. Every Sunday as we leave our driveways, we can almost hear our neighbors say, “Don’t they ever sleep in on Sunday?" And we can almost hear their spouse say, “No, they go to church every Sunday dear.” As we pass by neighbors washing their cars, hooking up their boats, and mowing their grass, they pause and look our way and with a nod of the head or a short wave of the hand, they become a witness that we’re steadfast. There’s that word again …steadfast…steadfast. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Then last but not least, we show those in the body of Christ that we’re steadfast by being around the Lord’s Table. We’re here every week and we’ve come accustomed to seeing those that are here. We miss you if you’re not here. If we looked and saw that “Stan” was not beside “June” we’d miss them because their steadfast. As I look out over those who are here today, I believe all of us present here today are steadfast. But what I believe is not that important, it’s what Jesus sees and believes that is. He has said that those who are steadfast "remain in Him, and have life in them." (John 6) If you miss a week, it’s so easy to miss the second…then miss a third, and soon you won’t miss the Lord’s Table at all.

The next time you pass the bread and the cup to the one sitting beside you, glance at them and quietly whisper, Thank you for being steadfast…have some …it’s good.

"Truth Decay"

2010-05-23T21:05:00.005-04:00

Truth Decay
By Stan Butler

This post is not meant to be a venting post. I’m not venting. Every now and then I just get a little upset about something I am a witness to and have to write down my thoughts on the matter, so I’m just stating the facts as I see them. God’s word will never decay…not one word of it…ever, but men will twist, bend, mutilate, and abuse it for their own selfish desires. Many today are living a very extravagant lifestyle at the expense of what I call “truth decay.”

Men and even some women masquerading as “preachers of the gospel” have taken the truth of God’s Word and exchanged it for a lie. They are guilty of “truth decay.” Although it upsets me and others, and probably just a few others, it really should come as no surprise to us and here’s why. In Romans 1:22&25; we read, Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator. Now I am very aware that this scripture mainly has to do with sexual immorality, but it also fits in this case I’m about to unleash on my wonderful followers…there are those who are taking the truth of Almighty God and using it to worship the creature (themselves) rather than the creator.

I believe with every fiber of my being, that every television evangelist preaching the “health and wealth gospel”… the “name it and claim it gospel”…the “prosperity gospel”…the “your best life now gospel” is guilty of “truth decay.” They all preach that God has provided for us (via the cross) to be completely healthy, altogether wealthy, and therefore be wondrously happy. Now that all sounds so pleasing to the ear and they make it sound so simple…and it seems you only have to just follow two rules…just have faith and just be sure to send more money. Please…let me slow down a bit… please, you slow down as read these next words very carefully…IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY and the love of it.

God's word says, “For the time will come when they (believers) will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

Paul writes to the church at Corinth; “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:2-4)

Paul was concerned that the congregation at Corinth would easily accept whoever came down the pike with whatever message came down the pike, just as believers in the good old modernistic US of A have done and are doing. These “fools” as they are called in Romans 1, preach this stuff from the same bible we have in our laps as we listen to them.

While preaching the wealth gospel they tell us we should claim (via the cross), they brag of their multi million dollar planes they use for travel, and expensive dress suits they wear, but if we read these bibles in our laps, we don’t see Paul and the other apostles traveling around in the finest gold plaited chariot of the day, inlaid with diamonds and rubies and pearls. Why can’t we see through this façade? (Truth decay)

While preaching the total health gospel that we as Christians should all enjoy (via the cross), they do so with eye glasses on or contacts in to assist them in reading the very text their preaching from and hearing aides in their ears to help them hear the applause. When it comes to having faith for total health, what’s the difference between cancer and failing eye sight or hearing loss? Why can’t we see through this façade? (Truth decay)

Lastly, 1Peter 1:16 does not say, “Be ye happy; for I am happy”…it says, “Be ye Holy; for I am Holy.” Your happiness and my happiness will be the by product of living a godly and holy life while worshipping and serving the Creator, not the creature.

2 Corinthians 11:14-15 reads; Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

Jesus bled and died on that cross for your sins (truth)…not so you wouldn’t get the flu. (truth decay)

Jesus bled and died on that cross to make possible your reconciliation back to God (truth)…not so you could afford that 2nd car or a vacation home. (truth decay)

Jesus bled and died on that cross so you could “take up” your cross and follow Him (truth)…not so you could “keep up” with the Smiths or the Butlers. (truth decay)

Have you ever heard the saying, “The one that dies with the most toys wins?” That saying probably originated in hell and the author is more than likely Satan. Maybe we should re-word that to say, “The one who dies with the most souls saved wins.” But that wouldn’t be true either…if you help save just one soul in your lifetime…that’s one soul that won’t spend an eternity in hell. That makes both you and them a winner.

Ask yourself this question the next time you’re about to write out that missions check…Should I send this $50 to India which will support a full time minister and his family for a month as he preaches his heart out for Jesus…or…should I send it to this televangelist to help him in making the next payment on his private jet or to help in the purchase of his next $8,000 suit?

Go ahead, ask yourself again as you’re about to write that next check, should I send this money to a place where an entire church can be erected for $6,000, or maybe it would do more good paying the mortgage on a multi million dollar church building some best selling author has just erected?

Go ahead…ask yourself…I do.

"So"

2010-05-12T21:22:00.002-04:00

“So”
By Stan Butler

The dictionary defines the word “so” as an adjective and/or a conjunctive. But for the purpose of this devotional, when you see the word “so”, I’d like for you to think of it as an “intensifier” of the word it precedes.

The word “so” is such a small word and often so over looked. (No pun intended). Sometimes as I’m studying the bible, rather than just reading it, I notice the word “so” and it causes me to slow down to see why it’s being used. That little word can often put you in deep thought. Let me take you through some examples that I’ve found.

The first example is found in John 3:16, “For God “so” loved (he so loved) the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Now let’s look at and see the fact that God didn’t just love the world, (mankind, you and I), but that he “so” loved us. The Greek word for world is kosmos, which we get our word cosmos from, and would normally include all of his creation. But here, it’s referring specifically to mankind, because he’s not referring to the fowls of the air, he’s not referring to the beasts of the fields, and he’s not referring to marine life. All these he did create, but they are not capable of “believing in him.” This “so loved” is referring strictly to you and me.

Sometimes as I ponder the love of God, I have thoughts as to why he would even love us, let alone “so love us”. Let’s take a look at why he would do this. The psalmist writes in Psalms 8:4, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” Think of this question; who are you and I that God should even give us a second thought, let alone “so love” us? Yet in Romans 5:8 we find “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God hates sin, and still while you and I were sinners, seemingly unlovable, God so loved us that he gave his only Son to a thankless world(kosmos) (people like you and I) so that we could scourge the flesh from his body, spit on him, mock him, put a crown of thorns on his head, and then finish him off by nailing him to a cross and stand by mocking him some more as we watched him slowly die as the blood flowed from his body. And all the while, God is saying with outstretched arms, “I so love you and this is your proof.”

That takes me to the second “so” that I discovered in the words written in Hebrews 2:3, “How shall we escape, if we neglect “so” great a salvation?” Here again the writer could have said “How shall we escape if we neglect this great salvation.” But, he used the words “so great a salvation.” It caused me to ponder just why it is “so great”. This salvation we enjoy is provided by this same God that “so loved us.” He sent His only Son who took on a human body, dwelt among us, and lived a sinless life to show us it could be done, and then furnished us with a “so” great a salvation by offering up his body and blood, taking our place on the cross that terrible day on Calvary’s hill. Even though sin had separated us from fellowship with God, he saw something in you and I that caused him to allow His Son to suffer the agonies of the cross.

It’s a “so great a salvation” because the blood of bulls and goats, could never cleanse us from this sin that separated us from him. It took a supreme sacrifice, a sacrifice so great that there would be no need to ever have another, the body and blood of his only begotten would be the only thing that would satisfy God. Listen as Paul tells us how Jesus was able to reconcile us back to this great God whom we love and serve today. Colossians 1:19-23; “For it pleased the Father that in him should all the fullness dwell and having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; and you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight; if you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.” It’s through the broken body of Jesus that we’re able go straight to the Holy of Holies, straight to the Father himself when we pray and make our request known in and through the name of Jesus, and it’s only through the precious shed blood of our Savior, that our sins are continually washed away, and not just pushed back for a period of time.

It is indeed a “so” great a salvation that we have. The question we have to ask ourselves is, “what we are going to do with it?” Are we going to be willing to share it with others. As a child, you may remember singing a song called, “This little light of mine”. Remember the lyrics, “hide it under a bushel, no”, and remember the lyrics “won’t let Satan poof it out.” As a child we may have been more prone to share this “so” great a salvation about this God that “so” loved us, than we are willing to do today. Are we willing to let our light shine in this sin soaked world that we live in today? Let’s see what Jesus has to say and what He expects us to do with our “lights” and how they should shine.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 “Let your light “so” shine (not just shine but so shine) before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Please notice that he doesn’t say to “shine your light before men”. We are to let it “so” shine before men. Shine as not to get some credit or self-glorification for some work that we’ve performed. We are to naturally let our light “so” shine as to let the world notice our good works and that way God the Father will be glorified. The lost in this world should see such a difference in how we live our lives that they’ll notice the difference and say to themselves, “there’s something different about this guy,” or “there’s something different about that woman.”

Let me give you one quick example and I’ll close. My first test to let my light “so” shine before men came just days after I became a Christian. I was in line at a KFC and when my order was ready, I gave the young man at the register a $10 bill, to which he gave me change for the $10 and also the same $10 back. I handed him the $10 back and told him what he had done. The kid at the cash register didn’t even say “thank you.” At first, anger swelled up inside me because of the thankless attitude of that young man. I knew he would have had to make up any shortages at the end of the day, and because of me, there would be no shortage to pay. Then I quickly thought of Jesus and the thanks he got for “paying up” for me. The anger quickly left and was replaced with a feeling that God was pleased with what I had done, and that’s all that mattered. A few days earlier and I would have taken the money and ran. I felt that was the best $10 I never spent.
God “so” loved us, God gave us “so” great a salvation, now let’s let our lights “so” shine that He may be glorified.

I am at the Lord's Table: A Communion meditation

2010-04-27T13:07:00.008-04:00

I AM AT THE LORD’S TABLE
by Stan Butler

A little girl asked her mother one morning as she was preparing lunch, “Mommy, why do you cut the ends off the ham before you cook it?” The girl’s mother turned and looked at her and said, “Oh, sweetie, I’m not really sure why, but I suppose you cut the ends off of the meat so that the meat can better absorb the juices and spices and make it more tender. Maybe you’d better ask Grandma since she was the one I learned it from. She always did it that way.”

The little girl called her grandmother later that day on the phone and asked her the same question, “Grandma, why do cut the ends off of the ham before you cook it?” The little girl’s grandmother responded, “Oh, sweetie, I’m not really sure. I think it is so the juices will be absorbed better. Call your Nana. She is who I learned it from.”

The little girl began to get a little frustrated with the whole idea, but a few days later decided to call her great-grandmother anyway. “Nana, mom was preparing lunch the other day and she cut the ends off of the ham before she cooked it. I asked her why and she said she thought it was because the juices would absorb better, making it tenderer. She told me to ask Grandma to make sure since she learned it from her. Well, I called Grandma and she said the same thing about the juices and all, but that she learned it from you and I should ask you. “So Nana, why do you cut the ends off of a ham before you cook it?” There was a long pause in the conversation and then the little girl heard what sounded like muffled laughter coming from the other end of the line. “What’s so funny, Nana?” “Oh, sweetie, I always cut the ends off of a ham before I cooked it because my pan was too small.”

Often times, we do things for the wrong reasons or perhaps because no one ever asked why or no one ever took the time and explained the real reasons. Every Sunday, we take a special time out of our worship service to eat a small piece of bread and drink a little cup of grape juice, and there are some who really don’t know or understand why. I’ve listed the reasons why I am at the Lord’s Table today.

I am at the Lord’s Table:
(Repeat before each reason)

because if I’m not, I have no life in me. John 6:53
to remain steadfast. Acts 2:42
to be raised up at the last day. John 6:54
to proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 1Cor 11:26
because it’s commanded of me. 1Cor 11:24
to have Him remain in me. John 6:56
for the remission of my sins. Matthew 26:28
to do this in remembrance of Him. Luke 22:19
to have eternal life. John 6:54
to avoid the judgment. 1Cor 11:32
to participate in the body & blood of Jesus. 1Cor10:16
to remain in Christ. John 6:56

I have just given you 12 reasons based on scripture as to why I am at the Lord’s Table. There is one other reason that I feel is very important, but it’s not written in a scripture. It’s written in my heart: I am at the Lord’s Table out of sheer love and gratitude for all He has done for me. I want to tell Him something, and I want to tell Him in front of all you witnesses: Jesus… I’m truly sorry… that my sins… took you to that cross. I will be at Your Table each and every week till I die or until you come again, which ever comes first. And that Jesus is a covenant that I make with you just now at this time of covenant keeping and covenant renewal.

Footnote: I will be away from May 1st through May 8th. Leave a comment if you wish to, just remember it'll have to wait till then to be published if left between those dates. I do covet your comments.

"And Jesus stood still"

2010-04-20T11:28:00.008-04:00

“And Jesus stood still”
By Stan Butler

In the gospel of Mark, there’s a story recorded of a blind man named Bartimaeus. It was recorded for our benefit: to enjoy as just good reading, and to edify us if we were to study it. Here’s how the Holy Spirit had Mark record this event.

Mark 10: 46-52; 46) And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. 47) And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 48) And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 49) And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. 50) And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51) And Jesus answered and said unto him, "What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. 52) And Jesus said unto him, "Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole." And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Before I begin to give you the insights I got from this passage of scripture, stop reading for a moment and close your eyes and keep them closed for maybe a full minute… Kinda gives you a greater understanding of and appreciation for what Bartimaeus was experiencing, doesn’t it? I want to take this event and relate it to prayer because as I read and reread it, my thoughts kept going to prayer.

First, I like to shut my eyes when I talk to my heavenly Father. It shuts out the world and its distractions for me. Open eyed prayer works for some…Jesus had no problem with it. (John 11:41)

Secondly, I like to either kneel or stand while praying; after all…this is GOD. Sitting while in God’s presence seems so lazy and disrespectful to me.(and this applies only to me) At times I’m forced to set, as when eating out…to stand and pray in a public restaurant would be Pharisaical. In church…ever notice how close the pews are designed so there’s not room to kneel? Satan probably had a hand in that: Make the building to where it’ll hold the masses but don’t let them humble themselves and kneel when they pray. If they don’t kneel maybe they’ll pray less.

Thirdly, for me (and again I repeat…this is just me) the height of laziness would be to lie in bed and talk to the Creator of this great universe. If I were to fall asleep while speaking to my Savior, I can think of nothing I could do that would be ruder. My theory…if your going to lay down and petition God, follow the example of Jesus in the garden and fall prostrate on your face.(Matthew 26:39) You want to be more like Him, then follow the example He left. Well, enough for my prayer “isms”, you pray any way that fits your fancy…just make sure in your own mind that you feel it pleases God.

Notice that Jesus was going about His business and “according to the book” when He heard Bartimaeus calling on Him, it says “and Jesus stood still”. If you get nothing else out of this message…get this…when you humble yourself in prayer before God, He’ll stop creating universes just to hear and listen to what you have to say, He will stand still just for you. Trust me on this one… He’s bigger than you could ever be able to imagine Him, and you’re smaller in the whole realm of things than you think you are, but even so, when you call on Him…He’ll stand still. He did it for Bartimaeus and He’ll do it for you.

Notice also that Bartimaeus cast off his garment as he approached Jesus with his request. There’s a lesson to be observed and learned here. I don’t believe that Bartimaeus stood before Jesus naked, but because it doesn’t say “outer garment” I won’t rule out that he did. One thing that I can be absolutely sure of is that when we come to the Lord in prayer, we need to cast off all thoughts of superfluity and stand naked if you will before Him. He sees all, knows all, and senses all. I see time and time again, men who stand and read a prayer written before hand. I still haven't figured that one out.

God made you and me for fellowship. Think about how lonely and forsaken He feels when we don’t take time out of each and every day to talk to Him. How His heart must be saddened when His very creation ignores Him.

On the flip side, think of how gladdened His heart must be when we take special time out of each day just to call on Him, to praise Him and tell Him just how special, how loved, how wonderful, how trustworthy, how marvelous, how forgiving, how magnificent, and how thankful we are to have Him as our Heavenly Father and as our friend.

Just as Bartimaeus received his sight and followed Jesus in the way…after reading this message, let’s consider our eyes opened and spend time…lots of time in prayer talking to the great God of this universe. When God speaks to me on the Day of Judgment and I answer, I want Him to be familiar with my voice…how about you?

"The newly reforming church"

2010-04-18T21:18:00.003-04:00

The “newly” reforming church
By Stan Butler

The word “reform” means to make or become better by the removal of faults and errors. How wonderful it would be if all churches would throw out their creeds, synods, councils, denominational names, altars, plans of salvation and just “restore” the church back to what it was in the beginning instead of trying to reform her. But…that’s not the subject of this post. I want to vent (and yes, I said vent) about what I see taking place today in the Lord’s church that is in fact “reforming” her. I for one don’t like what I see and I often wonder what the Lord thinks about the direction His church is taking. Now I don’t have specific scripture to use as a club or a sword, (and that is not the Christian way) (all things in love is), so keep in mind that I’m just venting. This is my very first “venting” post…but after all, this is my blog, and I can vent if I want to. I’ll make some friends and some enemies, but I’m use to that. I’m the kind of guy that once you meet me, you either want to hug me or punch me in the face. I’ve learned over the years to either open my arms or duck. Having said all this, let’s move on.

First, let me vent about the new dress code in the “newly reforming church.” I can hear many of you already quoting…Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. You had to go all the way back to 1Samuel 16:7 for that one. But I think it’s great that you know your Bible that well. It’s the latter part of that scripture I would like to deal with. Where’s the respect for God when a Christian dresses as if they’re going to a mall instead of a place of worship to pay homage to Almighty God. God does look on the heart and there’s no fooling Him. He knows and can see respect, and He can also see a lack thereof.

My wife and I visited a Christian church recently and ended up in the contemporary service. In the pew in front of us and to our left, we noticed two grown young men that apparently hadn’t shaved since Friday, they had on wrinkled shorts and tees, sandals without socks, and unless there’s a new hairdo I don’t know about, didn’t even bother to comb their hair. Now maybe I’m assuming to much, but when you know and sing along to the songs being sung, and put your offering in an offering envelope when the plate is past, I’m going to go out on a limb and say they these young men were probably members in good standing in that church. I’m going to go out on another limb and assume that if they were to show up for work on Monday looking like that …they’d be sent home to make themselves a bit more presentable to the public. Where’s the respect?

If we wear our finest apparel to a funeral, a wedding, or to meet someone of importance…why would we not show respect for our Creator and dress in our very best to come into His presence to worship.

Now it’s confession time. You men reading this…ever wonder why God gave you that spiritual woman to help you stay on the “straight and narrow?” My wife has a good habit of helping me do just that. Commenting one day to her about the way Christians were dressing for church, and being Pharisaical by stating I always wear the best I have (sports shirt and slacks)…she reminded me that was certainly true… but…it was not the best I could afford to wear she added. That next weekend we were at The Men’s Warehouse, Kohl’s, and Penny’s just to mention a few stores buying what turned out to be three suits, six sports coats, ten dress shirts, nine dress slacks and nineteen ties. And I did it not to be complimented by fellow worshippers, but out of a deep respect for the one who died for me. And I asked His forgiveness for my disrespect on passed occasions. Where’s the respect?

Now allow me to vent about the song services in the “new reforming church.” I’ve tried to reason why I would ever need a “praise team” to lead me in worship. What was wrong with the “song leader” leading the song service? He didn’t need to show up for “practices”, but then he wasn’t putting on a show. Rock bands practice, but then they're putting on a show. I think maybe “praise teams” may be a jealousy thing. We see the electronic church with their praise teams; we see the numbers in “seeker friendly” and “purpose driven” churches that boast praise teams and feel we have to have one as well. We must reason it’s why they have so many numbers. Maybe we could increase our numbers if we had a praise team. So we put one together.

On a positive note, the songs they sing are great in themselves. Right out of the scriptures…Revelation and Psalms. I mean they are truly great, but why all the repetition? Does God not understand that we love, praise, and worship Him after the first ten times we sing it? Or could it be that perhaps we don’t think He understands what we’ve sung because the volume is cranked up so high going through amplifiers that were designed for stadium use.

The church I attend combines the traditional and contemporary services every time there’s a 5th Sunday in a month and all Sundays in the month of December. The volume is so loud in those services that it has caused some to leave and visit other area churches for those weeks because it actually hurts our ears. Before resorting to this, I tried to stuff cotton in mine but to no avail. Letters written in a loving manner to the leaders asking them to find a “happy medium” were ignored. No one seems to care that members are being driven to extremes they really don’t like, the show must go on as they say. The volume is used to get the congregation excited and their heart rate up. If you want to get me excited…just mention the name of Jesus…lift Him up…it works every time and you don’t need an amplifier to do it in a 40X80 room. Put this to the test in your church: Make an announcement that the praise team is going to be disbanded and the piano and organ will once again be used in all services from now on and see what happens to your attendance. If it goes down (and it will) someone’s been attending church for the wrong reasons. Too many have bought into Rick Warrens “dress down for God” and “bring your McDonalds breakfast with you to the service” theology. Where’s the respect?

Let’s move on…I’ve got more…venting to do that is. What ever happened to standing while God’s Word is being read? In our visits to area Christian churches, we’ve found only one that requires the congregation to stand for the reading of God’s word. Where’s the respect?

And then there’s the kneeling thing. I’ve never been in any Christian church that ever asked it’s congregation to kneel while praying. Catholics kneel before the God they serve; Lutherans kneel before the God they serve. Muslims, I believe, actually bow with their foreheads to the ground to the God they serve. What do we do? Sit lazily most of the time a prayer is being offered. Occasionally, we’re asked to please rise. Where’s the respect?

Let me wrap this venting post up by venting about the food being served in the worship services of some of today’s reforming churches. Some are actually serving milk and donuts in the place of bread and the fruit of the vine for the Lord’s Supper. In an article I read recently, it was suggested that a piece of birthday cake be offered in between the bread and the cup during Communion at Christmas time to help celebrate the birth of Jesus. Where’s the respect?

There’s coming a day when we’ll all kneel before the King of Kings. Some will have to look around to see what the kneeling position looks like. I won’t be one of them. Where’s the respect?

A Communion Meditation

2010-04-09T13:02:00.003-04:00

GRASPING THE LOVE OF GOD
By Stan Butler

Listen as I read parts from a few passages of scripture that tell us of God’s love for us.

Romans 5:8; God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
John 3:16; For God so loved the world he gave his only Son…
Ephesians 2:4; God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us.
1John 3:1; Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us…
1John 4:10; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son…

The words in these few verses alone are enough to let a disciple know how deeply God loves them. His love goes deeper than our finite minds can really conceive, but… He has given us a way to get a grasp in a real way just how deep His love for us is.
Remember the words of Jesus from Matthew 26? Breaking the bread he said; “take, eat; this is my body.” And holding the cup he said, “Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

Paul writes these words to the Ephesians in chapter 3; “and I pray that you may have the power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide… and long… and high… and deep… is the love of Christ, and to know this love that passes knowledge.”

In a few moments when the bread and the cup are passed… and you take your portion, as you renew your covenant with God, look down at what you are holding in your hands. You are in fact being given the opportunity … to hold (grasp) the love of God in your hands. You are indeed being given the power to grasp how wide… and how long… and how high… and how deep… the love of God is. You can, you really can know this love that passes knowledge.

The Potter and His Vessel

2010-04-03T18:35:00.002-04:00

THE POTTER AND HIS VESSEL
By Stan Butler

Jeremiah 18: 1-4; the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it.

Having read these few verses of scriptures, I would like to look briefly at three things that we see taking place, and see how they could be applied today.

First, we notice that when Jeremiah gets to the potter’s house, he sees the potter working at the wheel on an earthen vessel of clay. Imagine God as the potter and you and I are the vessel of clay being worked on. Now wouldn’t it be wonderful if God as the potter could shape us into the vessel he wants us to be, take us off the potter’s wheel and not have to put us back on the wheel for what we’ll call “touch ups?”

At our baptism, God as the potter was working at the wheel on us, He was changing us. As an earthen vessel, He dusted us off, He wiped off the dirt, and He worked on every crack and every chip, and turned us into a vessel of great value and beauty. When we came up out of the water, for a short time, we were just how God wants us to be…without a single crack or chip. No dust or dirt. No mars. When He applied the precious blood of His dear Son as we were being baptized into Christ, that blood washed away not just a few or not just some of our sin, but every sin that we had committed and repented of up to that point in time. We were spotless as we came up out of that water rejoicing.

But as we all know that didn’t last very long, did it? As soon as we got dried off, as soon as we put on fresh clothes, as soon as we stepped back out into this old sin soaked world, we began to gather dust and get dirty, we began to get chips and cracks and we all allowed ourselves to become marred once again.

That takes us to the second point. It says that “the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter.” It does not say that the potter made a mistake or marred the vessel; it says that the vessel in the hand of the potter was marred. When God (our potter) cleans us up and shapes us, He intends for us to stay that way. But no, we jump off the potter’s wheel causing cracks and chips; we wallow around in the dust and dirt. We sin.

In 1John 2:1a, we read, “My little children, these things I write unto you, that you sin not.” John likes to use that term, “My little children.” He uses it 9 times in 5 short chapters. It could be because children make a lot of mistakes. We expect them to, but we also expect them to learn from those mistakes and not make the same mistakes over and over.

We are not supposed to sin. 1John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, (if we say we’re not marred) we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” In Romans 6:1-2 Paul says, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” “God forbid”. The entire verse of 1John 2:1 is so comforting though, “My little children, these things I write unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous".

Thirdly, it says, “So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” Isn’t it comforting to know that God (the potter) is constantly shaping us into what he wants us to be? Back in the days of Jeremiah, the potter was using water to work on the vessel of clay. As we allow ourselves to become cracked and chipped, as we collect dust and dirt, yes, as we sin, our potter applies the blood of our Advocate to every mar and flaw and reshapes us back into that vessel of great value and beauty. It happens every Sunday when we gather around the Lord’s Table keeping and renewing the New Covenant. Fortunate for us, there’s an endless supply of that blood, because we learn in Hebrews 9:22, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”

In closing, let me leave you with some scriptural descriptive adjectives of the blood our potter uses to cleanse us:
1.) In 1Peter...it’s called PRECIOUS blood
2.) In Matthew…it’s called INNOCENT blood
3.) In 1John…it’s called CLEANSING blood
4.) In Revelation…it’s called WASHING blood
5.) In Acts…it’s called PURCHASING blood
6.) In Ephesians…it’s called REDEEMING blood
7.) In Romans…it’s called JUSTIFING blood
8.) In Colossians…it’s called PEACEMAKING blood
9.) In Hebrews…it’s called SANCTIFYING blood
10.) In Matthew…it’s called NEW TESTAMENT blood

Lastly in 1Corinthians Jesus holding the cup calls it “My blood”

Footnote:
There are three other descriptive adjectives that are often used today when referring to this same blood. But you’ll not find them in the scriptures, they are: emblematic, symbolic, and representative of. These are words that uninspired men use when referring to the blood of the cross. Not one inspired author of the scriptures ever used any of these three adjectives when referring to the blood that Jesus said “is My blood”…so where do men today get their authority to do so?

He is risen, He's alive, and He's coming back again !

2010-03-22T09:54:00.000-04:00

This was my portion of a “tag team” sermon which I wrote and took part in at the Oakland Christian Church in Oakland Kentucky. It was true then and it’s still true today.

He is risen, He’s alive, and He’s coming back again!

Normally, when I stand before you and speak, it’s to bring you a communion meditation and through tears of my own, I make a feeble attempt to bring a tear to your eye, but this morning, I want to try and put a smile on your face. I think it’s a shame that we have to have Easter Sunday roll around once a year in order to hear a sermon about the resurrection and second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I’ve been reading a book about this subject, and there are 260 chapters in it, and the return of Jesus Christ is mentioned over 300 times in those chapters. I think this book ought to be required reading for every Christian. Here’s a copy of that book. It’s called the New Testament, and the author is the Holy Ghost. Why would anyone ever buy a book about the resurrection or the second coming authored by someone called Hal Lindsay, Billy Graham, or Chuck Colson, when they have this book, that has all the answers in it. These guys I just mentioned can’t even tell you the truth about how to become a Christian and yet people trust them on other spiritual matters. I’ve titled this message this morning:

He is risen, He’s alive and He’s coming back again.

Let me repeat that. He is risen, He’s alive and He’s coming again. How many of you sitting out there have that unshakable promise hid in your heart? Jesus is coming again. Man, what a waste of ink if it is just a myth, what a waste of book space, if it is just a fable. But it’s not a myth or a fable. Jesus has never, I repeat, never lied to us. He is risen, He’s alive and He’s coming back again.

Jesus prophesied that the grave wouldn’t hold him. He told his disciples exactly how long he would be dead and then he would come out of that grave. Unlike the charlatans, the so called prophets of the day we’re living in, when Jesus says something’s going to happen, it comes to past, in Matthew 12:40, he prophesies, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whales belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” And again in Matthew 26:32, Jesus said “But after I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.” He is risen, He’s alive and He’s coming back again.

Listen to the first account of our risen Savior as recorded in Matthew 28:5-7. The two Mary’s have come to the grave where they know Jesus was buried. An angel has descended from heaven and rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb and is sitting on it. The angel told the women 5), “Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified." Let me ask you a question, how long has it been since you’ve had someone tell you that they know that you seek Jesus? That someone could tell by looking at your daily walk, and the life you live that you are seeking more and more of Jesus. That you want to be more and more like Him? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to let our light shine before men that they could see Jesus in us and He could be glorified? 6) "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay." 7) "Now go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead.” Let me ask you another question. How quick are you to mention the name of Jesus out there in the real world. Most of the people you pass by everyday are rushing towards a Christless eternity. This book that I recommended to you at the beginning of this message says that narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there are that find it. The same God that proved he had the power to be victorious over death is the same God that has that same power to raise you and I from the grave if we die before his return. It’s this same God that is coming back for us. He is risen, He’s alive and He’s coming back again.

Listen to the words written in Acts 1:9-11; these words are the blessed hope of every Christian. And when he (Jesus) had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight, and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. These words are God breathed. They are truth. You can take them to the bank. He is risen, He’s alive and He’s coming back again.

I want to look with you at a couple things in this scripture that caught my eye. First, it’s going to be this same Jesus. He’s not sending some clone in his place. He’s not going to send an angel as a substitute, when He returns, he’s coming back himself. And make no mistake about it, he won’t be coming back for us as the meek lowly baby Jesus in the manger, and He won’t be coming back for His faithful as the broken bodied bloodied Jesus on the cross, but he’s coming back for us as the magnificent, the triumphant, the ruling King of King and the Lord of Lords that he is. He is risen, He’s alive and He’s coming back again.

Secondly, we’re told that He will come in like manner as ye have seen Him go. So many folks are looking for some secret snatching away of the faithful. (Called the rapture) Revelation 1:7, tells us: Behold, he cometh in the clouds; (that’s the way he went) and every eye shall behold him. Even the blind will see Jesus. That doesn’t look like a secret to me. Witnesses watched him go and everyone will be an eyewitness to his 2nd and final coming. He is risen, He’s alive and He’s coming back again.

At the Lord’s Table, we show the Lord’s death till he comes. We’ve all heard that hundreds of times. We need to hear it a hundred more. Gathered around his table, His church is saying, “we know you’re coming back for us, and we’re going to be faithful about doing this till either you come back Jesus, or until we have taken our last breath.” We know that his 2nd coming is not a myth, not a fable, not a fairy tale, nursery rhyme, or just another nice story. He is risen, He’s alive and He’s coming back again.

I’ll close with this promise from Jesus himself. John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” He is risen, He’s alive and He’s coming back again.

Are you ready for His return?

"So you think you know Jesus"

2010-03-19T08:45:00.000-04:00

“So you think you know Jesus”
By Stan Butler

Most everyone would be willing to place their right hand on the Bible and affirm in a court of law that they know and worship this man named Jesus. We could spend hours talking about Him and what He done while He walked among men. The profound statements He made: the promises He promised, the warnings He gave, the parables He spoke and the healings He performed that we know of. And yes, we could go into great detail in relating the story of the cross, how He suffered, how He died, and how He was triumphant over the grave.

Yet most of what we know about Jesus is written in the books of the New Testament, consisting of 27 short books, letters and documents which number 260 chapters, which have a total of 7,959 verses, all together containing 181,253 words. That’s it, that’s all the information we have.

In John 20:30-31 we read; And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. So we’re told that there is much more to know about Jesus but we’ve been told just enough to fall completely in love with Him and believe that He is who He claimed to be…the very Son of God. The Giver of Life.

John also tells us in chapter 21:25; and there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. We’re told of certain healings that took place by Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, but he healed multitudes of people that are mentioned but not given individual attention to in writing. Think about John’s statement here…the world itself could not contain the books. Chew on that for awhile…that’s a lot stuff we don’t know. This verse must have been what inspired F.M. Lehman to write the last stanza to his hymn “The Love of God.” Look at these great words:

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made.
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the oceans dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Tho’ stretched from sky to sky.

Good news is on the way though. John records in chapter 17:3, the words of Jesus as He prayed; “and this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” From the time of our new birth, we should have had a thirst and a hunger to know more and more about this Savior of ours, and from the words Jesus prayed here…looks like we’ll have life eternal to get to know all there is to know. An eternity of timelessness to sit at His feet and ask questions and have Him tell us the stories that all that the world could not contain had they been put to pen.

He which testifieth these things saith, “Surely I come quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:21) Also written by John.

"A Salad Devotional"

2010-03-10T21:11:00.000-05:00

“A Salad Devotional”
By Stan Butler

Hebrews 12:1; Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, letus lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and letus run with patience the race that is set before us.

All that have obeyed the gospel are in a race and it’s like a marathon in that some runners run faster than others. But it’s also unlike a marathon in that there is no one winner. Everyone that stays in this race and crosses the finish line is a winner. But to be a winner, you must cross the finish line…no dropping out.

The marathon runner consumes large quantities of carbohydrates the day before his or her race, literally eats a feast. They wear ultra lightweight running shoes, super lightweight running shorts and tees so as to not carry any extra weight. While in the race, they never stop for a break, taking liquid refreshment as nourishment is offered along the course.

In the race we’re in, we’re told “letus lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us.” That would be the cares of this world and the sin that it has to offer. But we don’t run our race without any weight at all…just the weight that would beset us. Those running in our race have to put on the whole armor of God: wear the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, wear the gospel of peace on our feet, wear the breastplate of righteousness, and around our loins be girded with truth. (Ephesians 6:13-16) Add to this that we have a burden to carry and a yoke to wear (Matthew 11:30), but Jesus promised “for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Then there’s that cross. We even have to carry a cross. Even with all this equipment, we are to run and keep running till we cross the finish line.

We’re told, “letus run with patience.” That’s the key to making it to the finish line…patience. To help us with this, God has special rules for us that don’t apply to the marathon runner. We’re allowed to pause along the course to feast on His word for nourishment … pause along the course for fellowship such as this to get encouragement…and pause along the course to spend time alone with Him to gain strength.

How do we know when we’ve crossed the finish line? We stay in the race and literally run till we die. And we don’t do it for a placement medal…Jesus said; “be thou faithful till death and I will give thee a crown of life.” Letus all be faithful and finish this race.

This devotional was prepared for a group of seniors “Young at Heart” which meets once a month for a devotional and then visits either an area or out-of-town restaurant for lunch and an afternoon of fellowship.

"Not in this age, nor the age to come"

2010-03-05T20:25:00.000-05:00

“Not in this age, nor the age to Come”
By Stan Butler

Does the Bible tell us that there is a sin we can commit and never receive forgiveness for if we do so? Yes.

Does the Bible actually tell us (in black and white) what this sin is and how we can be guilty of committing it? Again the answer is a resounding yes.

Why then is there so much fear and discussion about what this sin is and whether it’s been committed? The answer is that people are listening to the preacher in the pulpit and not looking in the scriptures to see if what he says is really the truth. Do you know that as the apostle Paul himself taught the Jews in Berea, that they received the word he taught with all readiness of mind, but searched the scriptures daily to see if what they had been told was the truth? (Acts 17:11) We need to be just like them in this respect.

As a kid growing up, I remember sitting in the pews of different churches and hearing different preachers preach on the “Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit” or as they called it, “The Unpardonable Sin.” If my memory serves me correctly, one preacher would say “it is the continued state of unbelief and if you leave this service a sinner and die, you’ll go to hell” Well Duh. (Sarcasm mine) This statement would usually come just before or during an unscriptural “altar call.” It was a statement used as a scare tactic to get someone to come forward.

Another preacher would say after preaching an evangelistic type message and again during the time of the “altar call,” “The Holy Spirit is prompting you to step out and come forward, and if you fail to obey the prompting of the Holy Spirit, you will be committing the unpardonable sin. If this be true, (which it is not) millions have committed this sin several times as they may have became Christians later on in life.

On other occasions it’s been said that murder and/or adultery are unpardonable. We all should be reminded that the apostle Paul used to kill Christians till he became one, and the woman taken in adultery was forgiven. Just this past Wednesday night at bible study I heard with my own ears a gentleman say that, “failing to believe that our Father in heaven is God” is the unpardonable sin. Now where do people get these ideas from?

What Jesus said on this matter is recorded in three passages of scripture; (Matthew 12:31-32) (Mark 3:28-29) (Luke 12:10) If Mark had not recorded his version of what took place, and under the direction of the Holy Spirit said what he said…we would all be left to conjecture (please look this word up in your dictionary…I did) any number of definitions of what the “unpardonable" sin is. But he took all the guess work out by what he said in verse #30.

Here’s the setting: Jesus has been healing all kinds of infirmities and diseases. He is also casting out devils (evil spirits). The scribes and Pharisees are getting upset because Jesus has an “innumerable” following at this time. They can’t deny that He has the power to do these things, so they say: “This fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of devils.” (Matthew 12:24) “He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils casteth he out devils.” (Mark 3:22) “He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of devils.” (Luke 11: 15) Now this is what they said.

Now for what Jesus said when He confronts them. Mark: 3:23-30; And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished. But no one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” -- because they were saying, He has an unclean spirit.

Now take the words of Jesus out of what you just read and put the words of Mark together and you’ll see the only reason given for Jesus saying what He said. It looks and reads like this: “And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” Jesus casts out evil spirits through the power of the Holy Spirit, and to accredit this power to Satan is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. If they had never made this statement about Jesus and His powers…Jesus would not have gave this teaching nor made this profound statement on blasphemy. But they did and so He did, and Mark gives us the reason why…. “Because they said he had an unclean spirit.”

So…have you ever made such a statement against how Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, opened blind eyes, made the crippled walk, cured leprosy, made the dumb speak, the deaf hear, turn water into wine, or cast out devils? I would hope not. Then you have never blasphemed the Holy Spirit.

One may resist the Holy Spirit and be forgiven. (Acts 7:51)
One may quench the Holy Spirit and be forgiven. (1Thess 5:19)
One may grieve the Holy Spirit and be forgiven. (Ephesians 4:30)
One may insult the Holy Spirit and be forgiven. (Hebrews 10:29)
One may blaspheme the Holy Spirit but will never be forgiven…not in this age, nor the age to come.

"If I be lifted Up"

2010-02-26T10:25:00.000-05:00

“If I be lifted Up”
By Stan Butler

In John 12:32; Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me.” Why do you think Jesus repeated the word “I” twice? Could it perhaps have been for emphasis? Could it have been that He knew 2,000 years in the future men’s eyes would stray from the cross and start looking for something more pleasant? Something a little more contemporary?

Some of those in Jerusalem that day that heard these words of Jesus, may have been some of the very ones that responded to the gospel message preached by Peter on Pentecost, when he lifted up Jesus. On that day alone Jesus drew 3,000 to himself. (Acts 2:41) Preach the cross and according to the scriptures, He’ll draw men, women, and children unto Him. That’s what they preached in the first century church…the cross, the gospel, Jesus lifted up for all to see. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:47) That was the first century church. The church that was built on the Rock, Christ Jesus, lifted up for all to see.

The contemporary church of today would rather lift up some recording artist to draw the crowds. Jesus is no longer the star attraction. Paul told the Romans, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for “it” is the power of God unto salvation…” The gospel; the death, the burial, the resurrection, it is what will draw all men unto Jesus, if He be lifted up. Not a recording artist. More often than not, they play to a saved crowd in the first place and they do it for the money and the applause. Now I know what you’re thinking, but answer me this…when’s the last time you clapped your hands after taking up an offering, or after a prayer being prayed, or after the gospel being preached by your regular minister. I rest my case.

In his book, The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren writes without reference to any scripture whatsoever speaking about music, “More people are won to Christ by feeling God’s presence than by all of our apologetic arguments (preaching)combined. It is the sense of God’s presence that melts hearts and explodes mental barriers” Too many churches are listening to ole Rick and not enough listening to ole Paul. Where does the Bible ever make mention of a conversion by feelings, or by singing over the preaching of the gospel? Jesus being lifted up is being traded in for worldly methods to enlarge the church. Be seeker friendly. Sing to them, but don’t preach to them. And if you preach to them, don’t preach at them, never tell them their sinners, it’s not seeker friendly, it’s not what they want to hear. Just as the altar is being used in many churches today to replace baptism, singing is being used to replace the preaching of the gospel in others.

Ed Bousman, a noted evangelist amongst the church of Christ/Christian Churches, makes mention of a sign on the wall of one church where he preached one time advertising the coming appearance of a noted line backer to appear before the young people.” He casually inquired why? An elder said to him; “Well, we have to have something to draw the young people.” He thought, now that’s strange, Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto me.” A line backer can’t lift up Jesus better than Jesus can lift up Jesus. When will we ever learn this? We’ve had 2,000 years to get it right.

So many in the church fret about losing the youth of the church to the world when they go out into the real world. We should fret about it. When our youth can sing every song on a dozen artists’ CD’s and quote all the stats of their favorite sports figures, but can’t name the twelve apostles, or quote ten verses of scripture from memory…there is something wrong. And I’ll tell you what it is…We haven’t lifted Jesus high enough for them to see Him. We’ve lifted the recording artist and they’ve seen the recording artist, we’ve lifted the sports figure and they’ve seen the sports figure, but they’ve not seen Jesus. Their eyes were on the stage where the show was and not on the cross. Napkins are wiping pizza sauce off the chins of our youth instead of wiping tears from their eyes after hearing Jesus being lifted up.

Put this spirituality check to the test in your contemporary congregation: Advertise for a full month in advance that “Johnny Doe, noted recording artist,” will be holding an all day concert here at the church. See how many show up on that day. Then, advertise for an entire month that the church will be holding an all day “down on your knees” prayer vigil. See how many show up on that day. I rest my case.

Entertainment will never take the place of the cross. Not with our youth, and not with our adults. Put this to the test sometime: read the book of Acts, it only has 28 chapters. You can do it in about 2 ½ hours at five minutes a chapter. Count how many jokes the writer used to hold your attention to the message, then next Sunday count the jokes in the message your “orator in the pulpit” uses to pacify your need for entertainment. It would seem that the men who fill the pulpits of today read the Bible less and less. I make that statement because instead of getting their illustrations from the word of God, their illustrations usually come from the latest “best seller” some liberal author has written, and not from the best seller of all time…the Bible. No book can ever lift up Jesus better than the Bible can lift up Jesus. When will we ever learn this? We’ve had 2000 years to get it right. I think I'll stop now before I offend someone.

When speaking of the cross:
Lift it up so men will seek it,
Bring it down so men can reach it,
But preach it, brother, preach it!

"One more night with the Frogs."

2010-02-14T20:17:00.000-05:00

One more night with the Frogs
By Stan Butler

Exodus 8:8-10; Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, intreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may return in the river only? And he said, Tomorrow. And he said, be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God.

Can you imagine being plagued by millions of frogs and wanting to spend “one more night with those frogs?” What was Pharaoh thinking? Why would Pharaoh not say, “right now would be just fine with me?” But no, he wanted to spend “one more night with the frogs.” And Moses’ “Glory over me,” I guess would be like us saying, “Well, praise the Lord.”

Anyway, from the title and the text, you’re probably thinking… “Not another lesson about the lost sinner putting off a decision to obey the gospel for one more day.” One more night with the frogs they think…one more night in sin they think and then maybe I’ll repent and be baptized. (Acts2:38) Procrastination: intentionally or habitually putting off doing something. Well, if this is what you thought, I am sorry to disappoint you because it is my privilege to share this message with the choir, with the pew warmer, and yes…with the preacher, with the elder, and with the deacon. What I have to say may go in one ear and out the other ear which is entirely up to you. I warmed a lot of pews myself before I stuck a finger in one ear and stopped this message long enough for my brain to decipher that I really needed to pay attention to this message and stop spending “one more night with the frogs.”

This is the message According to the scriptures:

Mark records that Jesus commanded, “Go ye into all the world, and preach (proclaim) the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)

Matthew records that Jesus, with total authority in both heaven and on earth, has commanded us to; “Go ye therefore, and teach (instruct) all nations…” (Matthew 28:18-19)

Luke records that Jesus said; “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached (heralded) in his name among all nations…” (Luke 24:47)

Do you see the pattern that is forming here? Jesus saying over and over again for ye the choir, ye the pew warmer, and yes…ye the preacher, ye the elder, ye the deacon, and yes…ye the author of this message, to stop spending “one more night with the frogs” and go and talk with people about the gospel.

Tell them (the world) that Jesus (and yes we have His permission to actually speak His name in public places) loves them so much that He died for them, was buried, and has risen from the grave. It’s not any harder (as a matter of fact, it’s not hard at all) to tell someone that Jesus loves them than it is to invite them to go to church with you sometime. A visit to church will never take the place of one on one evangelism. The command was not to have your preacher tell them from the pulpit…but for (ye) you to tell them out there in the real world. That real world starts just outside our front door.

Let me share with you a real life “one more night with the frogs” of mine. For the past month as my wife and I would be driving into town, as we’d pass the house on the corner I’d comment to her, “I need to talk with that widow about where she is going to spend eternity.” But that’s all I did was talk. Many mornings, after spending “one more night with the frogs,” as my feet would hit the floor, one of my first thoughts would be to walk down and visit with the elderly lady on the corner. But those thoughts were just that; thoughts, because I would procrastinate and spend yet “one more night with the frogs.” Then this week we had two snow storms in three days and I was stuck in the house. I knew that today I was going to take the short walk in the snow and try to share Jesus with my neighbor. Turns out, she is a Jew and told me that I had nothing to say that she cared to hear. I never feel rejected if they don’t want to hear what I have to say. They’re rejecting the message, not the messenger. She’ll never stand at the judgment and say no one ever tried to share the love of Jesus with her.

Well, I tell myself that’s a start. Now Stan, go and knock on yet another neighbor’s door and share the gospel and love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:31) Think of it like this…you loved yourself enough to keep yourself out of a “red hot sure enough hell, so keep the second of the two New Testament commandments and love your neighbor enough to keep him out also.

Then show the Lord that you’ll keep the first of the two and love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. Tell your neighbor just as Moses told Pharaoh; I’m sharing this story of Jesus with you “that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God.”

In James 4:14, God says; “For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Don’t spend “one more night with the frogs,” start witnessing for Jesus. Don’t think “one day, some day I’ll start being a witness…that’s just “one more night with the frogs.”

“One more night with the frogs” leads to “one more night with the frogs” leads to “one more night with the frogs….

The cup of Gethsemane

2010-02-08T08:53:00.000-05:00

The cup of Gethsemane
By Stan Butler

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus pleaded in prayer with his Father in heaven, asking for the same thing three times. “Let this cup pass from me.” Luke tells us that while Jesus prayed, that he was in agony, that He was praying earnestly, and that He was sweating profusely and that His sweat was as it were great drops of blood. So much so, that an angel appeared from heaven to strengthen Him. Matthew records that Jesus fell on His face to pray this prayer. He also tells us that Jesus told Peter and James and John: “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.”

Listen to the words that Jesus prayed recorded in Matthew 26:39; “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” And a second time in verse #42; “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” Verse #44 says; and he prayed the third time, saying the same words.

Now…what was in this cup? What could cause Jesus to be in such agony to the point of near death? Could it be that he was fearful of what the Romans were about to do to him? Was he in agony at the thought of the flesh being ripped from his body from the scourgings? Were his thoughts on the severe beatings he would soon receive? Perhaps it was the mockery from the crowds that he would have to endure while being spit on. Maybe it was the thought of the nails being driven threw his hands and feet. Or could it have been the spear that was going to be thrust into his side? Were these things in the cup that Jesus didn’t want to drink from?

No, (pause) it was none of these.

It’s been estimated that sense that time, fifty million men, women, and children have been martyred for their faith. In the early church, many of Jesus’ followers were crucified, covered with pitch, and set on fire to provide lights for the streets of Rome, and while being lead away in chains to be crucified, they sang hymns and were full of joy. So let us never entertain the idea that Jesus was in the garden fretting and agonizing and fearful over the very same death that many of his disciples later went to with joy in their hearts. What Jesus experienced before being nailed to that cross was terrible and horrifying, but what He was to experience for you and for me while on the cross is really beyond human imagination.

So what was in the cup? The wrath of God was in that cup. God’s fierce and terrible hatred for all that is evil filled that cup. The wages of sin is death and we are all sinners and deserve to die, we are all wicked and someone had to die for that sin and wickedness. In Proverbs 17, we read, “He that justifieth the wicked is an abomination to the Lord.” God does not like to see a wicked person go unpunished. Yet God is a justifier of the wicked, and in order not to contradict himself, God saw to it that the penalty for sin was paid. In Isaiah 53 we read; “he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him. The Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all. He was stricken for our transgressions. It pleased the Lord to crush him and cause him to suffer.” In order for God to demonstrate love and justice, the penalty for sin had to be satisfied, and the only way to do that was for God to offer his only Son to die in our stead.

This is God’s only begotten Son we’re talking about here. This is the same Son that caused God to break silence and speak aloud for the first time in over 400 years when he said at his baptism, “this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” This is the same Son that was with God before the beginning of time. This was the same Son who shared the glories of heaven with His father for untold ages before the world came into existence. This is the same Son that created the earth and everything in it.

Jesus, who knew no sin, while hanging on that cross was made to be sin for us. He was crushed for us. He bore all the righteous fury of God’s wrath for us. Jesus absorbed every drop of wrath in that cup and as God turned his back on the Son he loved so very much, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” He endured this repeated bombardment of God’s wrath for three excruciating hours, and when there was not a single drop left in the cup, John standing there watching said Jesus uttered the words, “It is finished.” Paid in full. God could now justify the wicked. The penalty for our sins and wickedness was paid.

Then Jesus, just before he died, done a truly marvelous thing. He showed us that he is the author and finisher of faith itself. After going through all the torture of being crushed by his Father, after absorbing all the punishment of His Father’s wrath and being forsaken by his Father, crying out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” He still had faith, he still trusted in His Father.

Church, (pause) the cross is the place where Jesus laid down his life for us; it is not a trinket we wear around our neck. But if we wear a cross, let’s wear it proudly, and let’s do this for Jesus, the next time someone says to us “That’s a beautiful cross you’re wearing.” Let’s pick up that cross and say to them, “It’s a symbol of not only God’s love, but also a symbol of His righteous wrath, why don’t you let me tell you about it?” Witness for Jesus…He expects us to witness…He deserves our witness…He’s earned our witness.

"Jesus is speaking...but is anybody listening"?

2010-02-01T12:39:00.000-05:00

“Jesus is speaking, but is anyone really Listening”
By Stan Butler

One Sunday morning a few years back after driving for about three hours, I found myself in the rural country side of Kentucky sitting in the Oakland Christian Church, a congregation at that time of about 30 members. I was there to hear a dear friend of mine, evangelist Larry Jamison preach the gospel. As he stepped to the pulpit, he belted out, “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.” Having driven all that way and eager to hear this wonderful man of God preach again after perhaps 15 years, I gave him a hearty supporting “Amen”. After a short period of silence that followed, his next words sternly spoken were, “And just who do think you are?” I sat there rather stunned. I thought his opening statement sounded pretty good. Again with deliberation and with even more conviction, he said, “Really, just who do you think you are?” He then explained that when God says something…it’s already settled whether I believe it or not. This epigram is now etched in my mind, “God said it, that settles it, and I believe it.” I now stand corrected. Speaking of standing…Larry can stand in one spot while in the pulpit and never move his feet and step on more toes during one sermon than most preachers do in a lifetime of preaching.

You may be thinking, “What has all this got to do with not listening to Jesus?” It’s a simple example of hearing something said, but not really listening to what’s being said. As we open the pages of a red letter Bible, we see that the words written in red are the words that Jesus spoke. Upon a careful examination, we can also see that Jesus at times is ignored when He speaks. Let me take you through three examples of when Jesus commanded something of people who for the most part ignored what He told them to do.

The first example “according to the scriptures” can be found in Matthew 9:27-31; as Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said unto Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!” But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.

These two men were grateful for what Jesus had done for them, but not grateful enough to do as they has been commanded. They heard the words of warning that Jesus spoke, but they just weren’t listening. They were commanded to shut their mouths…instead they went everywhere blabbing about this man Jesus and what He had done.

The second example “according to the scriptures” can be found in Mark 1:40-45a; and a leper came to Jesus, beseeching him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched Him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone: but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city…

Now here we see an instance where a leper was no doubt grateful for what Jesus had done for him, but not grateful enough to do as Jesus had commanded him. He heard the stern words of warning that Jesus spoke but just wasn’t listening. He to was commanded to keep his mouth shut…instead he went everywhere blabbing about this man Jesus and what He had done for him.

Now let’s look at the third and final example that “according to the scriptures” can be found in Mark 16:15-16; Jesus said; “Go ye into all the world, and preach (proclaim) the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

Here’s a completely different scenario: Instead of telling “ye” (that would be us) to keep our big mouths shut, Jesus is telling us to go out and blab about what He has done for us to the entire world. We were stumbling around in darkness just like the blind men till Jesus showed us the light and we were cleansed of our sins by Jesus’ precious blood at the time of our baptism (Acts2:38)(Acts 22:16) just as the leper was cleansed of his leprosy by Jesus’ word and touch. You’d think we’d be grateful… you’d think we’d be as grateful as the leper and the two blind men were and go out and blab to everyone, someone, anyone that Jesus has saved us. But no, like them, we’re grateful, but not grateful enough to be obedient to His command. We can hear the words that Jesus is speaking, we’re just not listening.

Some day, and it’s coming, we’ll all stand before Jesus and He’ll speak again…and we’ll all not only hear…we’ll listen as well. But will it be too late? He’ll say one of two things to you and I... "Well done thou good and faithful servant” or “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

He wants you and me to be a “blabber mouth.” “Are you blabbing?”

"Sorrowful to the point of Repentance"

2010-01-20T12:08:00.000-05:00

"Sorowful to the point of Repentance"
By Stan Butler

2Corinthians 7: verse8) for though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it---for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for awhile. Verse 9) I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance.

Paul, in his 1st letter to the church at Corinth had rebuked its members and leadership for the condition they had allowed the Lord’s church to get into.

First on his agenda, he rebuked them for dividing the body of Christ because they were claiming; I am of Paul… I am of Apollos…I am of Cephas. They were dividing the body by wearing the name of the person who baptized them. He told them that Christ was not divided, and adds “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” In other words…call yourself Christians, not Paulasites, Apollosites, or Cephasites. They heeded Paul’s rebuke and hence Paul’s response in his 2nd letter; “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance.”

According to the Dictionary of Christianity in America [Protestant] (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1990): "As of 1980 David B. Barrett identified 20,800 Christian denominations worldwide" That is 20,800 churches wearing names other than Christian and teaching 20,800 different doctrines and laying claim to being part of the one body of Christ. (This data is 30 years old...and is being added to daily.)

I recall that in John 17:20-21(KJV), Jesus praying fervently in the garden said; “Neither pray I for these alone,(his disciples) but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;(that would be you and I) that they may be one; as thou, Father, art in me , and I in thee, that the world (this would be all the lost souls Jesus died for) may believe that thou hast sent me.”

Now let’s get serious folks…when we rip and shred the Word of God apart until it conforms to our own particular theology, how can we ever expect a sinner to pick from 20,800 different invitations on the menu when being witnessed to? Jesus prayed that we would be one so that we could win the world. No matter how lovingly these 20,800 different denominations are rebuked for dividing the body of Christ by wearing these various names, they are not willing “to be sorrowful to the point of repentance”.

Secondly, Paul tells the church that they were arrogantly allowing sexual immorality to exist in the church, and that they should not associate with such a person but should remove that person from among themselves. This action if taken would hopefully cause the offender “to be sorrowful to the point of repentance.” They heeded Paul’s rebuke and hence Paul’s response in his 2nd letter; “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance.” It should come as no surprise that sexual immorality exists and is condoned in many congregations of the Lord’s church today. Some churches have become so “seeker friendly” and “number conscious” that they either “wink at” or close their eyes altogether to the sin of sexual immorality in the body of Christ. Elders no longer discipline the flock on such matters. To do so would hurt someone’s feelings and that is to be avoided at all cost. (Sarcasm is mine) Perhaps its time for the leadership of the church to “be sorrowful to the point of repentance.”

Thirdly, Paul rebukes them for turning the Lord’s Supper into a situation where some were eating and some were left hungry and some were even getting drunk. They took Communion when and how they pleased. The church at Corinth must have been sorry for the way they had treated the Lord’s Supper and heeded Paul’s rebuke and hence Paul’s response in his 2nd letter, “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance.” You might ask, “What does the church of the Lord Jesus Christ have to repent about concerning the Lord’s Supper?” You might ask, “Don’t we observe Communion “according to the scriptures,” on the first day of the week?” My response would be yes we observe Communion every Sunday as instructed… AND on Saturday evenings in many of our churches… AND on Good Friday in some… AND at others on any day of the week that precedes a holiday such as Christmas. Many of our churches have moved the Lord’s Supper to a side room, so as to not offend any visitors.

“Oh that someone would write these churches a letter and tell them when and how to observe Communion.” But wait a minute…God has already done that. Well then, Oh that these churches “would be made sorrowful to the point of repentance.”

Being sorry for sin is not repentance. When we see sin as God sees it…perhaps “we’ll be made sorrowful to the point of repentance.” And then again…maybe not.

"Love one Another"

2010-01-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

This is a Communion meditation I penned a few years back. I hope you will glean something out of it that will enable you to love your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ even more.

"LOVE ONE ANOTHER"
By Stan Butler

In John 13:34--- Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another”. We’re all brothers and sisters here in this congregation, and that makes us a family, the family of God if you will. It’s normal for families to eat together. We have full church fellowships dinners. We have Sunday school classes that invite other classes to join them in a meal from time to time; we have the women’s circles that meet each month for a meal, “Young at Heart” outing each month for the older saints, the church board has special meals together, we have home fellowship small groups and we share food. And that’s a good thing. It creates bonds and helps us to fulfill this commandment to “Love one another”.

There’s one meal however that we all share in common every Lord’s Day; Communion. In John 6:55; Jesus said, “my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink”. Now real food and real drink makes for a real meal. And this meal is the real deal, and it’s not a value meal. It cost our Savior every drop of His precious blood.

In Mark 14:18--- Jesus while eating the Passover, instituted and was having this very meal with his disciples when he said, “one of you which eats with me shall betray me.” Seems there was a loyalty problem among them.

In Psalms 41:9---David said, (and see if you can sense the pain in his voice), “even my close friend,(pause) whom I trusted,(pause) he who shared my bread,(pause) has lifted up his heel against me.” There seems to be a loyalty problem here also.

Brethren, as we gather around the Lord’s Table this morning and commune with our Lord, and take part in this meal, let’s ask God to search our hearts, and ask him to reveal to us any ill feelings we may have toward any person in this family, any word that we may have spoke that should have remained unspoken or any thoughts that we should not have about one of our family members. Just as we’re faithful to come around the Lord’s Table, let’s be faithful and let’s be loyal to one another also.

Jesus said it and it bears repeating, “Love one another” Let us pray.
Just an added footnote: Have you ever read 1Corinthians 13:13? "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love." BUT(emphasis mine) the greatest of these is love.

Ever wondered why love is the greatest? Ponder this thought...there will be no need for faith in heaven. There will be no need for hope in heaven. But love...ah, love will remain forever and permeate heaven because God is love.

"Iron sharpeneth Iron""

2010-01-07T20:34:00.000-05:00

Iron sharpeneth Iron
by Stan Butler

Proverbs 27:17 (KJV); Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

People use files made of metal to sharpen metal lawn mower blades, butchers use tapered shafts of hard chromium alloy steel to put a finished edge on steel knife blades.This should come as no surprise because, “according to the scriptures,” “Iron sharpeneth Iron”

Also in this verse, it says, “So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” Let’s take a closer look at this statement and apply it to our every day lives.

One of the key words in this passage of scripture is the word “friend.” The reason I say that is because in order to have a friend, you must be a friend in return. This fact alone should send up a red flag from the very start of a relationship to be careful when choosing who we want to include in our circle of friends.

There’s a saying which states, “A man is known by the company he keeps.” If this statement is true (and it generally is) then it would be reason enough to check the “iron” out before starting to rub up against it. Are we choosing the right kind of iron that will enhance our countenance? Here are some words of wisdom that are found in God’s Word which I take into account when choosing the “iron” with which I choose to associate closely.

In Matthew 12:34b Jesus said; “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” By listening to what comes out of a person’s mouth, you’ll be able to tell if they should be in your circle of friends. Sooner or later their speech will let you know if they are the “iron” you want rubbing against you helping to shape your spiritual countenance. Anyone who knows me knows that if they are going to hold a conversation with me, very quickly the conversation is going to turn spiritual in content. This would include anyone from a friend to a complete stranger.

In Proverbs 1:10 this advice is given; “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” I think long and hard on this verse when anyone around me asks me to go places or do things which I think might have the tendency to change my spiritual countenance. God’s word says in 1Thessalonians 5:22; “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Please take note that it doesn’t say, “abstain from evil,” it actually says to abstain from even the “appearance” of evil.

Let’s take these two verses above and use them in an example:

“Friends” invite you to go to a movie. The movie is rated “PG” (parental guidance). That would mean that it probably has some partial nudity, mild profanity, or some other form of adult content in it. You tell them in a very loving way that when you became a Christian, you received a gift, and that gift was the Holy Spirit and He has taken up residence in you, therefore if you attend and watch a movie that’s questionable in character, you would be subjecting the Holy Spirit to watch and hear the same worldly material. That would grieve both you and the Holy Spirit, so you decline their “enticement.” Your friends say that they understand completely and had never thought of it in that light. Your friends decide that they to will also “abstain” from going to that particular movie.

Do you realize the magnitude of what has just happened? You are the man that has just sharpened the countenance of his friends and you are the “iron that has sharpened iron.” “Iron sharpening Iron” is not always telling a friend how great they are or saying things that they may want to hear. A valued friend will accept rebuke and correction, and allow themselves to be sharpened by another.
So remember, “As iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”

"Shaking 'em in"

2010-01-04T13:34:00.000-05:00

“Shaking ‘em in”
by Stan Butler
Every church wants to grow. I know of no church that doesn’t want to increase their membership numbers. The Christian Church is no different. A church that wants to obey the Great Commission will strive to add to their membership. But a grave injustice is taking place in the Lord’s church today in this “membership drive.” Please allow me to qualify this statement after stating a few facts about Jesus and the church.

The first statement that must be made and accepted by all is that the church belongs to Jesus. It is not ours to do with as we please. In Matthew 16:18, He tells us in no uncertain terms; “I will build MY church.” Notice should be taken that He didn’t say “our” church, He didn’t say, “your” church, He said “MY church.”

Next, He has notified everyone (and that would include you and me) that ALL authority has been given unto Him. In Matthew 28:18, He tells us in no uncertain terms; “ALL authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” Notice should again be taken that He didn’t say “some authority”, He didn’t say “a lot of authority,” He didn’t say ¼, ½, ¾ of all known authority; He said all; and all means all.

Having said that, most reasonable people that are well versed in the scriptures will agree that the church and the kingdom are one in the same. In Matthew 16:18-19; Jesus uses the term “church” and “kingdom” interchangeably. He done this when He informed Peter that He would build His church and (notice the conjunction) He would give Peter the keys to it. He also tells Peter that whatever he makes binding on earth with these keys, that it will be binding in heaven also. Here, Jesus, who has total authority, is giving up some of it and handing it to Peter. Think about this…whatever Peter says is required to get into the church/the kingdom, that’s what will be required, and it will be binding on earth and in heaven.

Some time later, Peter is preaching a sermon and the listeners were convicted in their hearts that they had killed Jesus whom God has made both Lord and Christ. They asked, “What can we do.” Knowing they believed his message, Peter told them and it’s recorded in Act2:38; “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Here with the authority Jesus has given him, Peter exposes the keys for entry into the church, which are repentance for the forgiveness of sins and baptism for the forgiveness of sins. A serious student of the Bible will find that immersion is the proper and only accepted mode of baptism. Upon completion of these terms, admission is granted. It’s bound on earth and it’s bound in heaven. It’s locked up, a done deal, you can take it to the bank, and make no mistake about it…your eternal life depends on it. This is the way in and there is no other way… Or is there??? Now I’ll qualify the injustice I mentioned earlier.

Some churches rarely ask a potential church member the question “how and why you were baptized.” It’s such a simple question to answer but it’s rarely asked. Why? We want the numbers. By asking a candidate for church membership simply, “Have you been baptized,” we avoid an answer we’d really rather not hear. If unknowingly speaking to a life long Catholic, Lutheran, or Presbyterian they will answer the question with a resounding “yes.” To them the “sprinkling” they received as a baby… is baptism. We’ve heard what we wanted to hear so we don’t ask how, we just extend the “right hand of fellowship” to them and we “shake ‘em in.”

Then there’s the rest who were immersed, but not for the forgiveness of their sins. They were immersed “as an outward sign of an inward Grace.” As they stood in the baptistery, they had no faith in the “operation of God.” (Colossians 2:12) They were not responding to the call of Acts2:38, they feel their sins were removed while kneeling at an unscriptural altar. To them their baptism was the first act as a Christian and not the last act of a sinner, and by not asking “why” we avoid the “sign of an inward Grace” response and we extend the right hand of fellowship to them, and we “shake ‘em in.”

So the question we must answer is, “What are we “shaking ‘em” into?” The church/ the kingdom? I think not. We have no authority to do that. The terms of entry have not changed: repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Peter insisted on it, Jesus gave him the authority to insist on it, and if we want to save souls instead of being polite to increase our numbers, we must insist on it as well.

We don’t need to poll the audience, we don’t need to phone a friend, we don’t need to do the 50/50 thing; “according to the scriptures” Acts 2:47 says “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” We are told that those who obeyed the terms Peter spoke of in Acts2:38 were added to their number. Those that are saved have obeyed the gospel. In 2Thessalonians 1:7-8 it is written; “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I would ask you, “Have you been saved according to the scriptures, have you obeyed the gospel?” If there is even a single doubt in your mind, I pled with you to search the scriptures, for salvation lies therein. Don’t just feel you’re saved…you can know you’re saved by obeying the gospel.

"Thoughts about the "Good Confession."

2009-12-19T06:51:00.000-05:00

“Thoughts about the Good Confession”
By Stan Butler

Have you ever given the “good confession” and how it’s used much thought? I mean really? Peter answering Jesus’ question, “Who do men say that I am?” said in Matthew 16:16; “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” To which Jesus then said that He would build His church upon that statement.

Many of us have sat in worship services and seen some one come forward during the time of invitation. The preacher or elder perhaps would then tell the congregation that Mr. or Mrs. Doe has been previously baptized and has come forward to make known their wishes to place their membership with that particular congregation. To which they are asked to give an almost “word-at-a-time” response to what the preacher or elder would have them say, which generally goes something like this, “I believe”… “I believe”… “that Jesus”… “that Jesus”… “is the Christ”… “is the Christ”… “the Son”… “the Son”… “of the living God”… “of the living God.” The congregation then applauds and the “right hand of fellowship” is then extended.

Although there is no example given in scripture of this event taking place in the early church to be a part of the local body of believers, I see no harm in the practice. What I would like to hear from the preacher or elder though, is that Mr. or Mrs. Doe has given a similar confession of their faith before they were baptized into Christ. You may be thinking, “What’s the difference when these words are said as long as they are required to say them at some point? It could perhaps weed out those who were sprinkled as a baby and feel strongly that sprinkling is baptism. (More on this in my next post.)

Well, “according to the scriptures” a confession of faith must be made before baptism and if not, the baptism should not take place. God has not left us without instruction on this fact. In the 8th chapter of Acts, we find the example of a man (the Ethiopian eunuch) who wanted to be baptized but is told that he first must believe with all his heart, and without prompting, he replies in verse #37, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” I’m a stickler for what’s written in the Word of God and if I had my way, these exact words are what I would have one say simply because these words are the one example of a “confession of faith” that was accepted and allowed the eunuch to enter into the kingdom via his baptism.

Also take note in the conversion of the Ethiopian, that in verse #35, it says that, "Philip preached unto him Jesus." With the drop out rates in our churches today as high as they are, one can’t help but wonder if perhaps that obedience to the terms of pardon have been preached more than preaching Jesus to the candidate. I am fully committed to the “terms of pardon” as laid out “according to the scriptures”, but before immersing someone into Christ; I’d certainly make sure that they had a working knowledge of who Jesus is before baptizing them into Him, as well as a complete understanding as to what’s required of them in their obedience to the terms of pardon.

In closing, let me add my disapproval for those who would insist on adding to the “good confession.” I cringe when I hear the confessor having to repeat the added words “and I have accepted Him as my personal Savior and I have made Him the Lord of my life.” This is so much a part of the denominational churches and what they require. How and why do men think that they can make more perfect what God has already ordained?

My next post will be about baptism and why I think the church should ask a potential member both "how" and "why" they were baptized. Till then…give it some thought.

"The Mystery of God"

2009-12-09T10:56:00.000-05:00

The Mystery of God
By Stan Butler

Many of us have heard too many sermons preached by too many preachers telling us that the Jews are God’s “chosen people” and have made us feel that we as Gentiles are almost an afterthought that God has so graciously included in His plan of salvation. If you have ever bought into this fictitious idea, it may have caused you feel like a second class Christian. We, those other than Jews, are not an afterthought in the mind of God. Please consider the following:

In Ephesians chapter 1 & 3; in 1Corinthians 2; in Colossians 1; and in Romans 16; just to mention a few, there is made mention of the “mystery of God”. This mystery, "according to the scriptures" that has now been reveled is referred to as the “hidden wisdom of God”, “the deep things of God”, “the mystery kept secret since the world began”, “the mystery of His will”, “the mystery of Christ”, and “the mystery of the gospel”.

The truth of the matter (the mystery) is that from before the beginning of time, God has always had a plan in motion to reconcile the entire world back to Him, not just a people referred to as “the Jews”. The Jews are not and never were “ the only people God chose to be a part of His redemption plan”, but they were a people that God chose in which to bring Jesus (the Messiah) into the world, in order to bless all families of the earth (the entire world). (Gen 12:2-3)

David Vaughn Elliott, in his book “Nobody Left Behind”, states and I quote, “that upon careful examination, we can find nothing superior about the Jewish nation in and of itself. The only reason Israel stands out in the bible and in history is because God’s attention was focused on them for two thousand years, and that the Jews would never have even existed without the special intervention of God,” and Mr. Elliott asks us to consider these facts:

1) To get the children of Israel off to a start, God promised a son to a woman who was childless and past menopause. This only came about by the intervention and power of God. (Gen 18 and 21).

2) The children of Israel came out of slavery in Egypt and developed into the leading nation of the Middle East. This again only happened through innumerable interventions of God. From the ten plagues in Egypt to the fall of Jericho and beyond, God’s power was the moving force all the way.

Mr. Elliott then adds, from the start, it is clear that God did not bless them because of their own goodness, God told them, “Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Deut. 9:6)

God’s dealing with the Jews has always been with the entire world in mind. When God first called Abraham, He promised him, “I will make you a great nation.” Then He quickly added, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:2-3) and later confirmed His promise: “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 22:18) End of Quote.

God accomplished this by bringing the Messiah, (Jesus) into the world through the linage of David, a descendant of Abraham. (Read Matthew 1:1-16) God as I see it used the 12 apostles for the most part to preach salvation in and around Jerusalem to the Jews, many of which believed and were baptized. Paul was a traveling evangelist to the Gentiles, many of which believed and were baptized. God never intended to keep salvation to one nationality of believers. Christian, never feel you were an after thought in the mind of God. (re-edited)

"God Speaks"

2009-11-30T17:52:00.000-05:00

“God Speaks”

By Stan Butler

Hebrews 1:1-2a; God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.

God has spoken and made himself known in many ways. One of these ways He speaks is in lightning and thunder; Loud and boisterous, mighty and deafening, threatening yet wonderful. Listen to some of the times that it’s recorded throughout His word that He has done this.

In Exodus 20:18-20a; At Mount Sinai, the lightning and thunder was so loud and overwhelming that the Israelites told Moses; “Let God speak to us through you because if he speaks directly to us we will surely die.” Pretty awesome huh?

In 2Samuel 22:14-15a; David speaking to the Lord in a psalm of thanksgiving is saying that God “rides on the wings of the wind in thick clouds of dark water, and that he thunders from heaven with the voice of the most High and sends out lightning…”

In Psalms 18:13-14a; David again says, “The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire, and he shot out lightnings…”

In Job 37:3-5; “God directs his lightning unto the ends of the earth, after it a voice roareth with the voice of his excellency, God thundereth marvelously with his voice.” Think of how true this is…every time you see lightning; a few seconds later, you always hear thunder.

In Revelation 4:5; John says, “I saw the throne of Almighty God and him that sat thereon and that out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings.”

And lastly, in John 12:28-29a; Jesus says the words, “Father, glorify thy name.” Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. (and "according to the scriptures" it says), The people that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered… Totally awesome.

Many people are afraid of storms that produce thunder and lightning. I happen to love them. To me, its God’s way of speaking and saying, I am still the God of this universe, listen to my mighty voice and see my display of awesome power. …and when I speak, you listen.

When was the last time you were awakened by a thunder storm in the middle of the night and slipped out of bed and went out and opened your garage door and just stood there and listened to Almighty God speak in the thunderings and lightenings? When was the last time you raised your arms towards heaven during a thunderstorm and praised and thanked God for his mighty power and for giving you such a marvelous display of it?

Now… what about the God who in these last days has spoken and still speaks to us through his Son. It’s a still quiet voice, no thunder, no lightning, but the display is super colossialically spectacular. Perhaps you’ve been there…you are at the Lord’s Table… you look down at what you hold in your hands…what a display of power and might…you are holding the very love of God in your hands.

In one hand you see a piece of bread, and in a still quiet voice, you can hear Jesus say if you recall the words He spoke in Luke 22:19; “this is my body which is given for you.” The scripture in Ephesians 2:14-16 comes to mind reminding you that it’s through this broken body that the “middle wall of partition” has been broken down…no more going through a priest or middle man… the veil in the temple has been torn from top to bottom… you’re now given the expressed privilege of coming straight to the very throne of the most Holy and Reverend God. You can say, “I love you” face to face…one on one.

In the other hand you see a cup, and in this cup is the fruit of the vine, and if you recall the words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 26:28 you can hear Him say in that still quiet voice, “this is my blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for you for the remission of your sins.” Imagine with me if you will the awesome display of power as you drink this cup…your sins are washed away…you have just renewed the covenant with the one who died for you…and perhaps through watering eyes, you promise to be faithful to this covenant.

The next time your experiencing the wonders of a storm, let Almighty God speak to you through the lightnings and thunderings. And the next time you sit at the Lord’s Table, experience the love of God and let the words that Jesus has spoken…speak to you again there also.

"To be or not to be...Ignorant That Is?"

2009-11-27T13:08:00.000-05:00

“To be or not to be….Ignorant That Is”

By Stan Butler

I guess I should start this devotional out with a definition of the word ignorant. It simply means to have a lack of knowledge about a subject or thing. There is no shame in being ignorant. Everyone on this planet is ignorant to a certain degree, because no one knows everything about everything. The disciples that ate with, walked, talked, and handled Jesus were no different. At least in the beginning, the disciples were ignorant concerning some of Jesus’ sayings as well as His actions. Now I tell you that in order to tell you this: we need not be ignorant about the same things the disciples were. Let’s look at some examples. These examples given are only a few of many listed “according to the scriptures.”

In John 2:19-22 Jesus said; “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will you will raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. Now from the time Jesus said these words to the time they understood them was probably 3 years or more as He spoke these words early in His earthly ministry. They remained ignorant about this for quite some time.

Luke tells us of another example: Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.” But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said. (Luke 18: 31-34) It was just a few days later after these things happened, Jesus would remove their ignorance and open their understanding. Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection to show them that He had been victorious over death and the grave. They were so amazed that he had to show them the holes in his feet and hands and even eat some solid food to prove it was He and he was alive. What Jesus tells them is recorded in Luke 24:44-45; Now He said to them, “These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, and that all things which are written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures."

Now let’s look at one final example found in John 6:48-67; Jesus is saying, “I am the bread of life, and except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood ye have no life in you. Whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him.” Now at the time Jesus said this, they didn’t understand it. They were ignorant as to what he was saying. They even said in verse 60, “This is a hard saying, who can hear (understand) it.” And in verse 66 it says; "and from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him." Now let’s jump forward in time when these sayings are made clear to them and their ignorance is removed. At the last Passover meal Jesus had with these same disciples, in Matthew 26:26-28 we read; And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” They took the bread and ate it.… they took the cup and drank it .… and never uttered the words “this is a hard saying, who can hear it.” But these words are still being misunderstood to this day. It’s one of those sayings or teachings to which Jesus could very easily say as he did in John chapter 13; “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” That hereafter for us would be hereafter we have read and studied “this is my body” and “this is my blood.” Oh that he would only forcibly “open their minds to understand the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:45) But God doesn’t force us to believe anything he says, that’s left up to us. The disciples understood and were not ignorant, they didn’t “go back and walk with him no more.” Yet we have among us today those that would twist, turn, chop, bend, mutilate, change, and just refuse to believe the words that Jesus spoke. By doing so, they have, in a sense “gone back and walk with him no more.” They have turned His covenant renewal into a mere commemoration.

I have a question to which you should have an answer: Are you choosing to be or not to be ignorant of the scriptures’ teachings?

"According to the Scriptures"

2009-11-23T02:17:00.000-05:00

"According to the Scriptures"

By Stan Butler

1Corinthians 15:1-4; Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

Paul explains in four short verses the gospel, which has the power to save, and this gospel involves the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now if you were to say to a friend from a mainline denominational church; “according to the scriptures, the gospel has the power to save and we in the nondenominational Christian /Churches of Christ believe the gospel Paul preached and the gospel the bible teaches involves the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus”, they would probably reply, “well that’s exactly what my denomination believes to because it’s according to the scriptures and its in our handbook on doctrine and discipline. Can you imagine the sense of unity and all the “warm fuzzies” you’d feel being in complete agreement on this fundamental doctrine of the bible with this individual from a denominational church?

Since “you’re in for a penny, in for a pound,” you turn to Luke 24:45-47, and read; Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

As you are reading this, someone else from a different denomination joins the conversation. You say, according to the scriptures, Jesus commanded that repentance and remission of sins are to be preached to everyone everywhere and it should begin in Jerusalem. To which they both reply; we believe that a person must repent and we also believe in the forgiveness of sins because that’s according to the scriptures. It’s also what our handbooks on doctrine and discipline say. Wow, more warm fuzzies and such unity. Just what Jesus prayed for.

About now, you’re thinking, this is great…I’m going to push the envelope and see what easy to understand basic doctrine we can agree on next that’s according to the scriptures. As you’re leafing through your bible, yet another person from a third denomination joins the conversation.

You stop leafing at the first New Testament conversions mentioned in the bible and they just happen to be in Jerusalem. Yep, good ole Acts 2:38; Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Since you’re leading this unity party, you say, according to the scriptures, it says that if a person will repent and be baptized, their sins will be remitted and they will become a Christian. That’s what we believe in the non-denominational Christian/Churches of Christ.

The first believer says, that may be according to the scriptures, but we don’t teach that. In my denomination you go to an altar and you pray for the remission of your sins and you pray till you feel saved. And as for that baptism stuff…it has nothing to do with salvation. It’s something that a Christian does to show the world an inward change has already taken place, and that’s how I got saved. You ask him to show you where that’s according to the scriptures, and he says, it’s written in our handbook on doctrine and discipline.

Then the second believer pops up and says, what you believe may be according to the scriptures, but in my denomination all you have to do is accept Jesus into your heart and He’ll save you. And as for that baptism stuff, whether a person gets baptized or not is up to them. It has nothing to do with the salvation of a man’s soul, and that’s how I got saved. Again you ask for a show of where that teaching is according to the scriptures, to which they reply, it’s in there some where and even if its not, it’s in our handbook on doctrine and discipline.

At this the third believer says, it may be true that what you believe and teach is according to the scriptures, but we teach a much simpler way to become a Christian. We have the candidate to repeat what we call “the sinners prayer.” But when he repeats it he has to really mean it and be really sincere, and that’s how I got saved. Again you ask for chapter and verse according to the scriptures, and again you’re referred to the handbook on church doctrine and discipline.

Well, there goes your unity party and love fest. You have just found out that you’ve been talking to three people who call them self’s believers but have never really even become Christians according to the scriptures. You then are reminded that being a believer is really no big deal because the devil believes in God (James 2:18) and we all know his fate. But they are such good and sincere fellows and you just want to hang out with them so bad. Then it comes to you…you’ll all agree to put your doctrinal differences aside and create a “sense of unity”. It won’t be the true unity that Jesus prayed for and wanted, and by never mentioning doctrine you’ll never make Christians of these mistaught individuals. It’ll be a “love divorces doctrine” club and “unity rejects truth” club. You’ll now be like the preachers and leaders in their denominational churches who are like the scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites that Jesus spoke to in Matthew 23:13 when he said; “ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither allow them that are entering to go in.” Wow, did He say that. To be in the kingdom, you have to repent and be baptized for the remission of you sins, and by agreeing to forsake doctrine for unity, "you’ll shut up the kingdom of heaven against them."

Remember the next time that your at an interdenominational hymn sing or gathering that according to the scriptures, 2Tim 3:16---“All scripture is God breathed, and is profitable (useful) for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction.” And we’re told in 2Tim 4:2-4, “Preach the Word, be prepared in season and out of season (when it’s convenient, and when it’s not convenient), correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. I know that it won’t seem convenient at the time if you’re at one of these gatherings, but lean over right then and there and whisper to the person sitting beside you, “Let me show you according to the scriptures how you can be both a believer and a Christian.”

I went to such a gathering a few years ago and never uttered one word to any of the mistaught individuals sitting around me and by doing so I feel that I actually “shut up the kingdom of heaven against them.” I don’t feel very good about that so now I just follow the advice of Paul that he wrote to the Romans and in Chapter 16 and verse 17, he said “Now I beseech you brethren, (I strongly urge you) mark them (watch out for them) which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid (keep away from) them.”

The next time you’re invited to an interdenominational gathering, I would “beseech” (strongly urge) you to go, and while you’re there witness to those in attendance. But… if you think that it’s likely that you won’t be doing that, then I would also “beseech” (strongly urge) you to follow Paul’s advice and “avoid them.” It’s my gut feeling that we must do one or the other, because it's "According to the Scriptures."

"Grace"

2009-11-23T00:11:00.000-05:00

"Grace"

By Stan Butler

Have you ever considered some of the words that Christians sometimes use seemingly without a second thought? It’s as though we have allowed some words to become almost too familiar…and because of this, their meanings may have lost some of their significance. Although we may still consider these words special, some of their “specialness” may be lost in the way we use them almost in a disregarding manner.

Take the word “grace.” Most would say, “Oh yeah, grace, that’s unmerited favor.” Well… this two worded definition for “grace” doesn’t even scratch the surface. To me, that’s almost disregarding. And for a very long time…a very long time, that was my definition of the word “grace”. But “grace” goes so much deeper than that. There is a sense of reverence in this word “grace”, and for good reason. Let me share with you a little… just a little of what my study of “grace” brought to light.

Knowing there had to be a more fitting definition to this word “grace”, I searched my Strong’s concordance, looked in Vine’s expository dictionary of New Testament words, looked in a few commentaries. I even spent about an hour on the internet looking for the “best of the best” of definitions for the word “grace.” Nothing…and I mean nothing I found fulfilled the meaning of the word “grace” for me.

I remembered that "According to the Scriptures", “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally.” (James 1:5) If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a Christian, it’s that if you really want wisdom, God will not withhold it from you, and it is so much more rewarding to find something for yourself in God’s word than it is have a preacher, teacher, or author of some book point it out to you. I also know that in order to receive knowledge, one must incline their ear, look for it, search for it as for silver or hidden treasure, cry out for it (pray) and if you will do these things, then you will find the knowledge of God. While sitting in a classroom of the school that uses our church building on a Wednesday evening bible study, I kept noticing the blackboard was completely erased except for the scripture Titus2: 11-12. I finally jotted it down so I could look it up later, and I’m glad I did. I’m glad I was searching everywhere as if for silver or hidden treasure for a deeper understanding of this word “grace.”

I found a deeper understanding of the word “grace” in Titus 2:11 NASB; which says, “for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.” Now there is a definition of “grace” I can sink my spiritual teeth into. Put the person Jesus (who has appeared) in place of the word “grace” and you’ll have the best definition ever. It reads like this, “for Jesus has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.” Jesus is the Grace of God. No word is more crucial to the doctrine of salvation than the word “grace.” Jesus is the very heart and core of salvation. The two are inseperatable.

Every Sunday as we accept the invitation of our Lord to be at His table, we are confronted with God’s grace and should fully realize that we are the recipients of the most undeserved mercy ever afforded to mankind, and with this realization in mind, it should not only humble us, but also bring about a change in the way we live our lives from week to week. As we examine ourselves, we must…we must realize and understand the enormity of our sin in the sight of a holy God. Then and only then will we be able to grasp the wonders of His grace.

We experience God’s grace everyday in various ways. I believe Annie Johnson Flint probably had a good grasp of the grace of God. As a young girl, she became very badly crippled with arthritis. Her entire adult life was one spent in severe pain right up till her death. Near the end of her life, with a crayon pushed through bent and gnarled fingers and held there by swollen joints, she wrote the words to the hymn, “He giveth more grace.” These four words in the title to her song, “He giveth more grace”, I found tucked away in James 4:6. It’s a hymn that’s in most of our hymn books, though I have never heard it sung in any church service that I have ever attended. Here are her words:

He giveth more grace… as our burdens grow greater, He sendeth more strength… as our labors increase; to added afflictions… he addeth His mercy, to multiplied trials… he multiplies peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance, when our strength has failed ere the day is half done, when we reach the end of our hoarded resources, Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
Refrain:

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure, His power has no boundary known unto men, for out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

We’re reminded every week especially during the quiet time of communion, that it is out of His infinite riches in Jesus, that He giveth… and giveth… and giveth again. Such Love… such Mercy… such Forgiveness… such Grace. All so freely given…yet all so unmerited and all so undeserved. Thank you, Heavenly Father… Thank you… Thank you.

"A Cross to Bear"

2009-11-22T23:05:00.000-05:00

"A cross to Bear"

By Stan Butler

Jesus said in Luke 14:27; “whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” In Matthew 10:38, Jesus says basically the same thing using these words; “he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.”

These two verses tell us three things: 1) we all have a cross to bear, 2) we all have to bear that cross and follow after Jesus, and 3) failure to do these first two makes us unworthy and disqualifies us from calling ourselves “His disciples.” Now being good restoration movement folks and priding ourselves as being a people of the book, we always stress that, "According to the Scriptures," Jesus says in John 3:5; “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” So if we’re going to stress the “cannot” of John 3:5, let us also stress and with the same conviction the “cannot” of Luke 14:27.

The cross Jesus carried and died on was the cross of reconciliation. There was no need for him to be reconciled to God because He and the Father are one. (John 17:22) The cross that Jesus was willing to bare was a vicarious cross and until someone proves me wrong, I believe that our cross should somewhat resemble that of the cross of Jesus in that ours must be a vicarious cross also. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines vicarious as 1) performed or suffered by one person as a substitute for another or to the benefit or advantage of another. Who would ever disagree that Jesus suffered in our place on the cross and we reap all the benefits. He was innocent…we are the guilty party. He was sinless…we were the sinners. We deserved death…yet He was the one that was put to death so we could be reconciled back to God. Paul tells us in Colossians 1:21-22a; once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death…thus I say it’s the cross of reconciliation.

Now the cross we are to carry. After Jesus was resurrected and just before He ascended into heaven, it’s recorded in Matthew 28:18-19 that He said; “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” With absolute total authority, Jesus gives us the very first post resurrection commandment and covenant keeping stipulation… “To go and make disciples.” Let’s go back to the Merriam-Webster dictionary for a second definition of vicarious and see if it would even remotely fits in the discussion here. Webster’s second definition is as follows: 2) serving in the stead of someone which has been delegated as in vicarious authority. With all authority in existence, Jesus has delegated to us the task of making disciples. It’s like He’s handed us His cross and said “now it’s your cross and if you’re my disciple, carry on this reconciliation I made possible.”

Paul told the saints at Corinth in 2Corinthians 5:18-20; Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Him, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Those of us who have been baptized for the remission of our sins are “in Christ” and a new creature (His ambassador). We attend church every Lord’s Day and sit at the Lord’s Table and remember that cross of reconciliation and all that took place on it. Communion so beautifully identifies with the message of the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord, and if we would just commit to turn the message that is in the Lord’s Supper into ministry, and be an ambassador of that message, we could actually win this world for Jesus. So I join Paul in saying, “I beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” And then be an ambassador for Christ and take this message to a lost and dying world.

There are two questions that we must all ask ourselves: 1) What am I doing with this ministry of reconciliation that has been given to me, and 2) by definition, am I being honest when I call myself one His disciples?
Listen to these words one more time: “whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” and “he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.”